"It was all I could do," says Overholt fire neighbour

Still shaken from the nightmare that unravelled in front of his eyes early Wednesday morning, Ian Morland says he did all he could while attempting to save his neighbour from a fire at a home on Overholt Place.

“I was watching a movie with my girlfriend when I saw a big flash of light out of our picture window,” explains the 19-year-old Chippewa Secondary School Student.

“Then you could see the flames immediately, I called 911 right away, put my boots on and ran across the street right away.”

Morland says in the two minutes it took him to reach his neighbour’s yard the flames were already billowing out of the side of the house and up over the chimney.

“It was dangerous; the flames were 10 feet above the house and they were blocking the car port at that point.”

“So I jumped the little fence and ran to the front door and knocked repeatedly, but there was no answer,” he says in an exclusive interview with BayToday.ca.

Recognising that the flames were growing and that there was no movement in the house Morland ran next door to wake the neighbours to warn them that they were in danger and that the fire department was on the way.

“I had a feeling it was already too late then ... It was all I could do.”

Morland says the home owner was a quiet elderly Finnish man who kept mostly to himself, and although the remains have not been identified he is certain it is his neighbour who perished in the fire. He also indicates that the home did have a wood burning sauna.

“I didn’t know him that well ... he doesn’t speak much English.”

The cause of the fire has not been determined, and The Fire Marshall’s Office and North Bay Police Service continue their investigation.