Owen Sound firefighters contained a fire to the kitchen area of a second-floor westside apartment Monday afternoon.
The fire started on the kitchen countertop of the upper apartment of a two-storey brick house at 1064 1st Ave. ‘A’ W, a dead-end street behind Shoppers Drug Mart downtown.
The exact source of the fire may never be known, Owen Sound Fire Chief Doug Barfoot said Tuesday. Damage was put at $50,000.
No one was home in either apartment unit at the time, he said. After someone called in the fire at 2:53 p.m., firefighters responded quickly and in time to keep it contained, Barfoot said.
Firefighters saw smoke venting through the kitchen window and the attic when they arrived. Some lath-and-plaster walls had to be pulled down to ensure the fire hadn’t spread into hidden places, he said.
The natural gas and electricity were shut off to the house as a precaution. Power won’t be turned back on throughout the house until it’s deemed safe to do so in the fire-damaged unit, so both units will remain unoccupied for now, Barfoot said.