A fire that destroyed two mobile homes and a detached garage at Silver Creek Estates in Severn Township on Tuesday night is not suspicious, officials say.
The blaze, which quickly engulfed the neighbouring homes on JV Parkway, sent black smoke into the air that could be seen as far away as Midland.
Paul Hutchinson, who lives on Hilltop Road, says he saw the fire ravage a detached garage on JV Parkway before it spread to two mobile homes — one on either side of the garage.
“They were fighting the fire in the ceiling of the second house,” he said. “They were worried it would get to the third house, but they managed to stop it.”
Hutchinson says neighbouring residents were concerned about the impact of the fire on the homeowners, but he added nobody was overly concerned the fire could potentially spread throughout the park. He says firefighters were able to get the situation under control relatively quickly.
“It’s a shame,” he said. “These people have lost stuff they will never recover.”
Hutchinson says the resident of the first home, where the fire started, moved in late last summer or early last fall.
Tara Sherman, who lives on Haines Street, was sitting on her deck when she heard a crackling sound.
“At first I thought there was a barbecue flare-up because I could see flames,” she said. “When I looked again, I realized there was something much bigger going on.”
Sherman believes the fire started on the deck but isn’t sure how it started. She says the homeowner didn’t own a barbecue and added the two homes belonged to an elderly single woman.
Because there are no hydrants on JV Parkway, Sherman says fire crews had to keep filling up their trucks from a mobile water supply. She says it was a slow process to put the blaze out and it took approximately three to four hours.
“To be an elderly person and to have to deal with this now is terrible,” Sherman said. “Everything they have is gone.”
Tim Cranney, director of fire and emergency services for the Township of Severn, says the 911 call came in Tuesday at 7:40 p.m. Two stations responded to the call with about 20 firefighters.
“We saw flames showing from one structure and smoke starting to show from a second one,” he said.
There were no injuries to civilians or firefighters, Cranney said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but it is not deemed suspicious. He said officials have not yet evaluated how much damage was caused by the fire, but both homes have been gutted.
