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Elderly woman flees fire in Parkwoods bungalow fire

A two-alarm fire raced through a semi-detached bungalow in Parkwoods this morning, sending its elderly female resident and a neighbour into the street.

Emergency responders got the call at 10:39 a..m. for the blaze at 182 Lynedock Crescent on the corner of Climans Road.

“I was in my house when it happened and I smelled smoke,” said Victor Browne, who lives next door in the other half of the building.

Their residences are separated by a firewall up to the attic but the attic is shared, he said. Smoke came across the top of the house and Browne realized it was coming from his neighbour’s house. He ran next door to get the woman he called Mary, who he thought is about 90 years old.

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“When I knocked on the front door I didn’t hear anybody, so I had to run to the side door,” he recalled. Mary met him by the side door and he helped her out.

“In no time at all, the fire went right up the house,” Browne said.

Both of them put in emergency calls, he said.

Firefighters on the scene said they could see the smoke all the way from Highway 401, more than half a kilometre away, as they were responding to the call.

“When we got there it was bad,” District Chief Stephan Powell said later. “Fire was coming out the back of the house.”

Crews knocked down most of the the fire in about 40 minutes, Powell said, but they continued to be concerned about  cellulose insulation burning in the attic, possibly the source of the chemical smell.

The most damage was done to the back of the house.

Both homes remained full of smoke at about 1 p.m. and firefighters remained on the scene.

Browne said he had to stay out of his house until he got the all-clear.

The only injury reported was a firefighter who suffered heat trauma, Powell said.

The elderly resident of the house was reported taken to hospital as a precaution for possible smoke inhalation.

“I hope she’s all right — she’s a sweet lady,” said another local resident viewing the fire site.