Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Loyalist Township fire crews were called into action early on Christmas morning, responding to a fire involving unoccupied homes on Gildersleeve Boulevard in Bath.
No injuries were reported as the buildings were at various phases of construction, with no one living in them at the time.
“The actual fire loss is still being calculated, but we did have a total of three single family homes and two semi detached structures destroyed, for a total of five homes,” said Loyalist Township fire chief Fred Stephenson. “There is also damage to eight other homes, some fairly significant and other just cosmetic.”
The value of the five homes destroyed is estimated to be near $5 million.
Crews were alerted quickly to the fire and arrived on scene about 4:30 a.m. and were on site for 11 hours before all hot spots were deemed extinguished.
“The Ontario Fire Marshall’s Office sent two investigators to assist us with the investigation,” said Stephenson. “They arrived on Christmas day shortly after lunch and we wrapped up our investigation around 4 p.m. on Dec. 26. The actual cause is still under investigation.”