Major fire averted Friday thanks to working smoke alarms

North Bay Firefighters were called to a minor fire on Carruthers Street this morning.

Fire Prevention Officer Joe Gardiner says the occupants had left the home for about a half an hour and neighbours called in the fire when they heard the smoke alarms going off.

He says that the door had just start going up when crews arrived on the scene and that the fire was smouldering in a small pantry area where cloth bags were hanging off the door.

“All occupants were out of the house,” Gardiner explained.

“There were no other accelerates in the area, so it is suspected that a cigarette butt got knocked into a bag.”

Gardiner says that in a townhouse complex the fire could have spread very quickly causing far more damage than it did. He credits good working smoke alarms for preventing the situation from turning tragic.

“The owners of the complex are good and diligent about smoke alarms,” he says.

“This is a good example of where smoke alarms possibly saved lives.”

Gardiner says the damage was minimal and estimates it at a couple of hundred dollars.