A devastating fire destroyed a family home on Fairview Road in Hinchinbrooke overnight on January 30.
The structure was already consumed by flames by the time firefighters arrived on scene. “It was raging,” said Hinchinbrooke Volunteer Fire Brigade chief Michael Krause, whose department responded to the blaze along with Godmanchester, Huntingdon, Ormstown, and Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka. Firefighters from the Service de Securité Incendie et Civile de Sainte-Barbe covered the Huntingdon station during the call, while the Franklin Fire Department was on standby in Hinchinbrooke.
“Mutual Aid worked fantas-tically,” said Krause, noting it took approximately 50 tanker loads of water drawn from a hydrant down the road to control and eventually extinguish the flames. “It wasn’t the coldest day, but it was not very conducive to water,” he acknowledged.
Krause said the heaviest fire seemed to be coming from the basement, but the exact cause of the blaze is now under investigation. The family was not at home when the fire started, and there was no one injured during the operation. The house burned to the ground and is a complete loss.
A fundraiser has been launched to help the family recover from the disaster. Donations can be made online through the GoFundMe crowdfunding platform at gofund.me/8c04b2b72.