West Avenue home destroyed by fire in Kitchener
Police determined the house was empty
The Kitchener Fire Department was called to a fire on West Avenue Tuesday morning, which destroyed one house and damaged two others.
Twenty-five firefighters from four different stations and the Waterloo Regional Police responded to a house fire on 66 West Ave. around 8:40 a.m.
Police received a call from someone who was walking by and saw flames shooting from the roof of the house, while assistant platoon chief Andy O'Reilly with the Kitchener Fire Department said they received 19 calls to 911 reporting the fire.
Police said that emergency crews on scene determined that no one was in the home. O'Reilly said that the neighbouring homes were occupied at the time but were able to evacuate on time. There were no injuries.
Fire crews arrived to find 66 West Ave. fully engulfed and that the fire had spread to the houses on either side.
"We were able to knock down the body [of the fire] in the original house fairly quickly," O'Reilly said. "But it took us sometime to fully gain access to the roof area on the one house."
House still unsafe to enter
O'Reilly adds that 66 West Ave. was completely destroyed in the fire. Damage is estimated to be $450,000. The houses on either side also had some damage.
Fire crews have not determined what caused the fire as they have not been able to conduct a full investigation due to the extensive damage of the home.
"It's unsafe for us to enter right now," O'Reilly said. "It's going to be a significant period of time before we can get in there and figure out how a game plan to address our investigation and handle the structural instability."