Lakeshore fire investigators are not only trying to determine what caused this morning's fire in a Belle River home, but the state of smoke alarms.
Crews were called to to 271 Broadway Street near Ducharme about 4:30 this morning and found the home fully involved.
The fire and all hot spots have been extinguished and crews have cleared the scene.
Fire Chief Don Williamson says it was lucky there were no injuries.
"The most important part is everybody got out safely including the owner and the pets" says Williamson. "Unfortunately it appears there was not a working smoke alarm in the house, so the occupant is very lucky they got out the way they did"
Chief Williamson says the residents weren't alerted to the fire by smoke alarms.
"It was the dogs that woke the owner up and alerted him there was a fire occurring in the building so it will be investigating a bit more of the details why there wasn't a smoke alarm for sure"
A fire at a home on Broadway St. in Belle River. April 23, 2018 (Photo by Angelo Aversa)
Fire crews on the scene of a fire on Broadway St. in Belle River. April 23, 2018 (Photo by Angelo Aversa)
Fire Chief Don Williamson says work was being done on the house.
"Ongoing renovations at the moment so the smoke alarms were taken down for new drywall surfaces. So it's not clear at this point whether there was any up at the ceiling or any of them had batteries in. That's part of the statements we've collected and looking for pieces of evidence in the fire as a result of all that information"
Williamson says in addition to determining the cause, they still have to calculate the damage to the home.
He says it's a total loss, but they need to figure out what the dollar figure is.