Four fire departments called to large structure fire

May 13, 2021 · 0 Comments

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Four local fire departments responded to a large fire at an abandoned house at the intersection of Hwy. 89 and Hwy. 10 on Wednesday (May 12) afternoon.

Fire departments from Shelburne, Orangeville, Rosemount, and Melanchthon/Mulmur responded to the call shortly before 1 p.m., where flames and smoke could be seen coming out of the upper levels of the structure.

“From the time we responded it was fully involved,” said Shelburne Fire Chief Ralph Snyder. “We did a defensive attack, we’ve not been inside, it’s not safe for our firefighters to enter.”

The burnt brick walls and chimney were all that remained of the abandoned house as crews waited for an excavator to arrive; demolishing the remaining structure.

Fire officials have not yet deemed whether the fire was suspicious.

“There is no power to the house and no real source of ignition today, I’ll be calling the Fire Marshal to inform them,” Snyder told the Free Press. “The circumstances make it a little suspicious.”

A major grassfire was also started as result of windy weather.

Fire crews were using thermal imaging to search the inside of the structure, but Dufferin OPP in the initial reports of the incident said there were no known injuries at the time.

Hwy. 10 was closed northbound and southbound between Hwy. 89 and 30 Sideroad.

Snyder told the Free Press the fire crews were expected to remain at the scene for a couple more hours.

“We are just controlling any hotspots and waiting on the excavator to tear it down so that we can do a more thorough search,” said Snyder.

The Free Press will continue to follow developments in this story.