About 25 firefighters from the Timmins Fire Department responded to a residential fire in Schumacher on Monday evening.
Deputy fire chief Scott Foster said they received the call around 5:36 p.m. and it was under control by 11 p.m.
The roof of the three-unit residential building collapsed as a result, and the second floor partially collapsed.
“First-arriving crews began an aggressive attack on the second-floor unit to ensure no occupants remained inside,” the fire department said in a news release Tuesday afternoon.
Residents evacuated safetly
“Residents from the main floor and basement units had safely evacuated prior to the fire department’s arrival. Once crews confirmed that all occupants had vacated the structure, operations transitioned to a defensive attack due to rapid fire spread and structural instability. Additional crews from Station 1 were requested to provide aerial apparatus support.”
Foster said investigators are unsure how the fire started, but would be back at the scene Tuesday morning. No damage estimate is available yet and the cause is not believed to be suspicious.
Firefighters from three stations responded – 1, 3 and 5, he added.
Police in Timmins closed east and westbound lanes between McIntyre Road and Father Costello Drive/ Highway 101 West on Monday evening to help firefighters.