Fire damages Goodwood home

Roger Varley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Firefighters from Uxbridge and Stouffville responded to a fire call in Goodwood last Tuesday (Sept. 8) that saw a residential building heavily damaged.

Fire crews were on the scene from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., with a standby crew remaining on scene until midnight. No injuries were reported and no pets had to be rescued.

Fire chief Mike MacDonald said the roof of the home was completely destroyed as well as a good portion of the second floor.

MacDonald said 27 Uxbridge firefighters were on scene and there were five tanker trucks, three from Uxbridge and two from Stouffville. The tankers were necessary because there are no fire hydrants in Goodwood.

Asked why the fire crews did not use water from a nearby pond, the chief said "water was never an issue, we never ran out." He said there was a small delay when hoses were shut down while the transition was made from the Stouffville tankers to the Uxbridge tankers.

"Water didn't affect the outcome," he said. However, he said the fire "came back strong" during the tanker truck transition.

Asked about a resident's concern that firefighters were seen "standing around," MacDonald said 27 Uxbridge firefighters responded to the call and when the roof collapsed it was decided to get the firefighters out of the building.

He added there are times when not all responders are needed and he didn't want to risk lives.

As for using the water in the nearby pond, MacDonald said Stouffville never uses pond water in their tankers and, while Uxbridge does when needed, there is a possibility of silt and sediment getting into the tanker and causing problems.