Fire forces elderly couple from home

By Charlotte Helston

It will take substantial renovations before an elderly Coldstream couple can return to their Lakeview Drive home after a fire spread through their property over the weekend.

The owner, John Anderson, told the fire department he was trying to start his 1981 Mercedes which had been sitting unused for some time. The Mercedes coughed to life, but moments later, Anderson noticed flames under the front right fender.

The fire was initially reported as a small brush fire, but when fire crews arrived, the fire had spread from the portable car port where the Mercedes was parked to the house and yard.

"When we arrived, there was a thick plume of heavy black smoke, there were propane tanks and paint cans strewn around the yard," Coldstream fire chief Shane Code says.

Firefighters had to move quickly to prevent an even uglier situation.

"It had already spread significantly," Code says. "It was up through the back bedroom window and into the soffit."

Anderson and his wife safely exited the house. Their home, though insured, is too damaged for them to return to. Code says 30 per cent of the building's rear is ruined and 100 per cent of the roof destroyed.

Code says a small comfort to the homeowners is the fact that crews were able to save many personal possessions from the flames.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca or call (250)309-5230