Barrie fire officials say 10 tenants at an Innisfil Street rooming house are “extremely lucky” following an early morning blaze, Tuesday.
Flames melted a plastic water line in the basement’s exposed ceiling, which then acted as a sprinkler system to douse the fire. In some structures, the water lines are made of copper, but not in this case.
“A lot of new-home construction is made out of plastic piping… and it’s not necessarily all copper anymore,” Deputy Chief Jeff Weber told BarrieToday this morning. “The reality is the fire created enough heat to melt the outside surface of the pipe; the pipe burst and extinguished the fire.
“If that pipe was not there, the fire would have continued to grow,” he added. “It had smouldered for a certain amount of time in the bed already.
“The fire would have been far more significant and probably would’ve involved the rest of the building.”
The blaze was contained to the basement and did not spread to the upper floors.
Fire crews were called to the residence, located at 81 Innisfil St., at 1:45 a.m.
Weber said the Barrie fire department’s investigation is complete and it was determined to be an electrical fire.
“There was an electrical outlet that was overloaded and it caught the bedding on fire,” Weber said.
There were no smoke alarms in the unit, Weber said.
“We are looking into that, as well,” he said. “That’s obviously a problem for us, in making sure the tenants are warned about a fire. That’s problematic; we want to make sure there are smoke alarms in the structure.”
Charges may be pending against the building’s owner for Ontario Fire Code violations, he added.
Ten people, many of whom were asleep inside the structure at the time of the fire, have been displaced due to the fire, but Weber said all have been able to find alternate accommodations.
How long residents will remain out of their homes remains to be seen.
“Obviously, it’s going to need some reconstruction in the building,” Weber said. “The electrical and water are all off, so there will need to be some work in there. It’s going to take some time.”
Damage is estimated to be in excess of $50,000.
