Joe Noseworthy hadn’t long dumped out the dehumidifier in the downstairs of his Pasadena home late Wednesday night when he went back down and heard what sounded like anxious voices outside.
By then it was after midnight and when he looked out the window he saw his next door neighbours standing by their vehicle in their driveway.
As he looked around he took notice of the big window in the house on the opposite side of Fifth Avenue and thought he saw a fire inside.
Noseworthy ran back upstairs and out on his front bridge.
The flames were coming from the house right next to him. The image he’d seen in the window across the street had been a reflection.
Thankfully, he said, all three occupants of the home at the time had made it out safely.
Noseworthy knows it was only a short time before the Pasadena Fire Rescue arrived, but because of the situation it seemed like much more.
“It was just starting to build up then,” he said and the department quickly set its attention to concentrating on the burning house.
Still he and his wife, Lu, were concerned for their own home.
With the wind in the direction it was the flames were shooting out straight from the burning home.
Had the wind been going in a different direction, Noseworthy said it wouldn’t have been good.
“It could have been a whole different scenario,” he said.
Assistant fire chief Dan Myles said the department arrived at the scene at about 12:35 a.m. Thursday.
Just hours before members had participated in a regular training night where they trained on situations involving downed power lines.
Myles said the members never thought they’d put the training to use so soon when they settled in for the night.
But upon arrival on Fifth Avenue they found a downed power line at the scene and Newfoundland Power was called to cut the power to the home.
“Until that happened it was basically defensive,” said Myles. “We had hoses on it, but we were just staying away from one side.”
Myles said about 20 firefighters battled the blaze, utilizing the department’s two pumpers and rescue and utility vehicles.
They were on the scene until about 5 a.m. when it was turned over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Cpl. Dave Cooper of the Deer Lake Detachment said damage to the home was extensive and that investigators with Fire and Emergency Services were on the scene Thursday morning.
He could not give a timeframe for how long the investigation would last.
Meanwhile, Noseworthy said he’d sent an email to the town CEO and the fire chief to express his appreciation for the work the department did in fighting the fire.
(This article has been updated to correct some information)
