A devastating fire ripped through two row houses on Farrington Crescent in Picton on the afternoon of Friday 31 July.

The houses were part of a four-unit row-house block. All four houses have been evacuated. Nobody was injured and all pets were rescued.

“The fire was in a row house block of four. It ignited in the garage of the far end unit on the windward side and started to spread,” reported Fire Chief Pat Howe.

“There was a strong wind blowing from the north, and it was blowing the fire into the other houses in the row.”

Firefighters managed to contain the damage to the first two connected houses. “They were heavily damaged. The complete upper-storey roof is gone and the first storey is inaccessible,” said the Chief.

Two row houses will have to be completely rebuilt. The two others suffered smoke and water damage. The lost and damaged property comes to at least $1 million.

About 30 firefighters rushed to the scene and managed to contain the blaze to the first two houses.

“The damage was isolated to the double townhouse unit of origin. Our firefighters did a great job of preventing damage to the other units. The wind was blowing quite heavily Friday afternoon. I was worried we were going to see the adjacent houses ignite.”

Firefighters from stations 1, 2 and 4 “worked together really well to knock down the flames and prevent further damage.”

Firefighters extinguished the blaze, which started about 2:15pm, by about 5pm. Cleanup operations continued until 8pm that evening.

“This is terrible for the families evacuated and those who lost their homes,” said the Chief, “but a really good outcome in the end for life and property conservation. Thanks to a great effort by everybody, including the volunteer firefighters, who fought alongside the full-time force, the OPP, and paramedics who came out on the Friday afternoon of the long weekend.

“Members of the community came by with jugs of water and offered shade on a very hot day and lots of support.”

Everybody in adjacent houses was evacuated during the blaze. Firefighters were concerned the wind could blow the fire further down the block or to houses on the next road.

So far, the cause of the fire is undetermined. “An investigator will figure out how it started. It ignited in an unattended garage. Nobody was home at the time. It’s not suspicious, but the cause is unknown.  The damage is significant which makes it harder to determine the cause,” explained the Chief.

“Unfortunately, most of the fires that start, the cause is undetermined,” he said.

A Go Fund Me campaign to help the four families has raised close to $10,000. The Picton Giant Tiger manager Jennifer Thompson stepped in to donate a change of clothes, toothbrushes and other immediate aids to those who had to leave their homes.