Residents shouldn’t read too much into the fact the Office of the Fire Marshal is investigating a recent fire at a Bracebridge business, says the town’s acting fire chief.
“People do see there was white vehicles with the provincial logo on the side and they anticipate that, you know, it may be nefarious, but it is not,” said Deputy Chief Michael Peake.
Peake, who has been the acting chief since emergency services/fire chief Scott Granahan left the municipality last month, was discussing the Jan. 31 structure fire at 6 Monica Ln., the location of the Mattresses of Muskoka business.
According to an initial report, a boat had caught on fire in one of the units. The fire quickly extended to multiple units in the building, resulting in an estimated $1 million in damages. No injuries were reported.
Twenty-five firefighters from Station 1 and 2 came to fight the blaze with five fire apparatuses. Gravenhurst Fire Department also sent one ladder truck and four firefighters to assist.
Crews attended the fire at 1 p.m. that day, and the blaze was extinguished by 7:30 p.m. Monica Lane from Cedar Lane to Gray Road was closed for several hours to accommodate suppression operations, but was reopened Friday evening once the fire was contained.
Peake said the estimated damage amount was the contributing factor in calling the FMO in to investigate. He added a demolition crew was brought in to assist investigators comb through the debris.
“The reason (the FMO investigators) showed up was because (the fire) met a threshold. So we have certain thresholds and when it meets that, we have to notify the Ontario Fire Marshal through the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre. So it met the threshold of a million or above in losses,” he said.
Peake stated the FMO investigation began the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 1 and investigator concluded the on-site portion the following Monday. He added there is no time frame as to when the findings may be announced.
“We’ve got reports within six months, we’ve gone from within eight months. It really depends on the investigators and how busy they are,” he said.