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Town of Innisfil update on Friday Harbour fire

Damage estimate is $1.5 million
20180213FridayHarbourFire02SS
Innisfil Fire and Rescue Services attend a fire in Friday Harbour on Tuesday. Sue Sgambati/BarrieToday
NEWS RELEASE
TOWN OF INNISFIL
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INNISFIL, ON – Innisfil Fire and Rescue Services is to be commended for quickly, effectively and safely putting out a fire at Friday Harbour resort on the evening of Feb. 13, 2018. An investigation into the cause of the fire remains ongoing.

There were no resident or civilian injuries, however, one firefighter was taken to Royal Victoria Hospital and was released early this morning. He is in good spirits and out of respect to the privacy of the firefighter, details of the injury will not be released.

The following is a timeline of last night’s events:

  • At 7 p.m., Innisfil Fire and Rescue Services received a 911 call about a possible structure fire on Big Bay Point Road within the Friday Harbour development.
  • Fire crews from four stations responded initially, and thanks to recent approved fire staffing in the Big Bay Point area, a firetruck arrived on the scene within six minutes.
  • Upon arrival, the initial fire crew found heavy fire located within a block of 5 town houses that were unoccupied and were under construction. This crew made entry into a middle unit to attempt to suppress the fire.
  • Unfortunately, the stairs that led from the second floor to the third floor were burnt out and firefighters were unable to access the third floor from inside the unit. The fire quickly extended into the attic space which then ignited the roof.
  • As conditions were no longer safe for fire crews to fight the fire from inside the unit, large hose streams and an aerial truck were established on the exterior. Given that the units were under construction, fire quickly passed from unit to unit before the fire could eventually be contained and extinguished approximately 4 and a half hours after the initial call.
  • Four out of five townhouse units suffered heavy fire damage and overall, the block of five town houses quickly became structurally unstable.
  • The formal investigation into the fire began this morning.

Quotes:

“I can’t express how incredibly proud I am of the women and men from our fire service. This was a difficult firefight and I am very proud of their continued professionalism and dedication. I am thankful for our colleagues at the Simcoe County Paramedic Service and Royal Victoria Hospital who attended to our injured firefighter so quickly.”

“Fires in buildings that are under construction are incredibly difficult. In this specific situation, we had unfinished units that did not have complete drywall, which allowed the fire to spread. For this reason, I am confident that we would not have seen the same type of fire spread were the units fully finished.”

– Innisfil Fire and Rescue Services Chief Jon Pegg.

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