A 64-year-old man is dead and a home in Burnt Cove on the Southern Shore has been destroyed after a fire that began around 11 a.m. Sunday morning shocked the community.
The RCMP confirmed that the victim’s body was recovered around 5 p.m. Sunday.
The victim’s son who also lived in the home was rescued by neighbours shortly after the blaze began, but due to intense heat, smoke and flames the rescuers could not get near the home to come to the aid of the older man who died.
Witnesses at the scene told The Telegram the victim’s son repeatedly tried to re-enter the burning building as he was being urged to leave, and it took five people to hold him back. Neighbours say the rescued man is developmentally delayed.
Volunteers from the Witless Bay Fire Department and the RCMP were combing through the burned-out wreckage of the home Sunday afternoon in search of evidence.
Firefighters poured water on the ruins, peered through windows and combed through debris in an effort to determine if the missing man was in the building.
This was the second structure fire of the morning on the Southern Shore as Witless Bay volunteers also responded to an earlier blaze in Mobile which damaged a house. There were no injuries in that incident.
No further information was released as of press deadline Sunday.
This story will be updated as new information becomes available.
