The old idiom of "right place, right time" rang true for North Bay Fire and Emergency Services firefighters early Thursday morning in the Marshall Park area of West Ferris.
As is NBFES protocol, crews responded to a call for a structure fire from all three city stations at a townhouse on Mulligan Street. A small deck fire call that came through at approximately 2:30 a.m. was rapidly dealt with, but some firefighters stayed behind to help ventilate the home as smoke had entered the living areas.
Then, less than an hour from their original response and no longer needed at the scene, NBFES personnel who were about to be cleared from the scene of the fire on Mulligan Street, could see the garage fire a short distance away on Summit Drive that would be their next call (see video above).
The crew's response time had them at the Summit Drive location immediately after receiving the call, and saw them pulling double duty on their shift, one fire leading them to another less than one kilometre away.
There were no injuries at either scene. The detached Summit Drive garage was heavily damaged, but no one was inside at the time of the blaze, and the fire did not reach the main house. No cause for either fire had been determined, and the investigations are ongoing.