POLICE ARE investigating after heavy smoke from a fire damaged a Thornhill home.
On Jan. 10, Thornhill firefighters arrived at the residence on Simpson Crescent by the old Copper Mountain school to find the building filled with heavy smoke and the blaze confined to the living room, said Thornhill fire chief Wes Patterson.
The building suffered extensive smoke and heat damage but no one was injured, he said.
“It’s under [police] investigation,” he said, adding that nobody was at home at the time of the fire and he didn’t know if anyone was living there at that time.
Firefighters had been preparing for the funeral of colleague Ron Gerow, who passed away the week before, when they received the call about the Thornhill fire and were able to extinguish it and still get to the service in time.
“The guys did a really good job, very quickly and all were able to make the funeral,” said Patterson.
The building is still structurally sound but damages could be in the range of $40,000 to $50,000, said Patterson.
Two chimney fires occurred during the Christmas holidays, one in north Terrace on Christmas Day and one at Jackpine Flats Jan. 9, he added.
The north Terrace one involved a chimney that probably hadn’t been cleaned and the other one was probably an incomplete cleaning with some of the built-up creosote being left in it, said Patterson.