New water mains in Tay Township a ‘huge’ help to fight cottage fire
A visitor to Port McNicoll for a wedding looked out his kitchen window to see the next-door neighbour’s waterfront cottage on fire Wednesday afternoon.
Andrew Degenhardt called 911 before 4:30 p.m.
“They got here very fast and immediately went to work,” he said about the response from the Tay Township Fire Department to the fire at 155 Woodlands Ave. The fire was put out with the front of the building standing.
Tay Township fire Chief Brian Thomas said new water mains with hydrants were just installed in the area this year.
“That made a huge difference. Now we have six-inch mains, so our volume of water was readily accessible when we needed it,” he said.
Anderson Hoare, who lives year-round next door, said no one was at the cottage at the time of the fire and there had not been anyone around. He added the wood cottage is more than 60 years old. The owner is from Toronto and comes up only three to five times a year.
Hoare used his garden hose to prevent the fire from spreading to his house, where he stores large propane tanks.
The cause of the blaze is to be determined.