Fire in Bathurst area leaves young couple without a home

A house fire early Saturday morning outside of Bathurst, N.B., has displaced a young couple.

The fire was reported around 4 a.m. in the rural community of South Tetagouche.

A man in his 20s was briefly hospitalized for smoke inhalation, a press release from the Red Cross said. The woman was unhurt.

Stephanie Boucher Hébert was awoken by a call from her daughter at 7 a.m.  Boucher Hébert's daughter told her that her house had caught fire and she and her boyfriend were at the hospital.

Both made it out of the house OK along with their pet dog.

Hébert said her daughter had been working a night shift and heard through social media that her house was on fire and rushed home. Hébert's daughter told her she believed the fire had started in the garage.

House, garage badly burned

Both garage and the house are badly burned, Hébert said.

Hébert said her daughter and her boyfriend has just moved into the house two months ago. It was the first home her 19-year-old daughter had ever owned.

"She was excited and happy and she couldn't wait for her first Christmas in their first house," Hébert said.

"She wanted to invite the family over and do their first Christmas in their new house."

Hébert said her daughter and her boyfriend haven't decided where they will go, but that she offered to have them stay with her.

The Canadian Red Cross has provided the couple help with clothing, food and other essentials.