A fire that reportedly started in a garage spread quickly to an adjacent house, causing serious damage to a Mitchell home just before noon on Thursday, April 3.
The West Perth Fire Department received the dispatch call at 11:20 a.m. for the blaze at 122 Trafalgar St., fire Chief Bill Hunter said. By the time the fire department arrived minutes later, “heavy smoke and visible flame” aided by strong winds resulted in the Mitchell department calling for mutual aid from departments in Perth East (Sebringville) and North Perth (Monkton).
The garage was not far from the back corner of the house, so the fire easily extended into that nearby structure, the chief said.
There were no injuries and fire officials were able to salvage key personal items for the owners, reported to be Adam and Bekki Warzonek.
Hunter reported there was significant fire damage through the house’s main floor and smoke damage throughout the entire house.
A delay in fighting the fire on the house’s east side was attributed to nearby hydro wires that ERTH officials had to disconnect before firefighters could place a ground ladder to properly attack the fire in the upper floor and attic.
The cause of the fire, believed to have started in the garage, was still under investigation but is not considered suspicious.
“We’re performing our origin-in-cause investigation right now,” Hunter said at the scene.
The fire chief said it’s thankfully been some time since there’s been a serious house fire such as this in Mitchell, but the bottom line in this case was there were no injuries.
“Keepsakes, memorabilia and stuff and photos can’t really be replaced, but at least they’re still here to talk about it,” Hunter said.
Also of note, smoke from the fire triggered an automatic alarm at the West Perth municipal office on Wellington Street less than two blocks away, which saw fire officials also attend and eventually clear that site.
“There was a bunch of stuff going on right off the hop,” he said.
At approximately 2:30 p.m., firefighters from Perth East and North Perth were dismissed and West Perth scaled back their service as the fire was extinguished by that time.