RAGING FIRES

By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon

January 07, 2009 12:57 am

— KINGSVILLE TOWNSHIP — In the span of a few hours, fire took a terrible toll on Douglas Canter’s livelihood.
Early Tuesday morning, flames gutted a building Canter used to repair equipment used in his grass-cutting and snow-removal business. The fire also damaged his home, which sits a few steps away, at 5834 Route 193.
The building was much more than a maintenance garage, Canter said.
“Ninety percent of my personal belongings were on the second floor,” he said.
Nothing had been salvaged from the smoking rubble by late Tuesday afternoon, he said.
The fire was reported about 2 a.m., said acting Kingsville Fire Chief Neal Stewart. Firefighters from Sheffield Township and North Kingsville also responded to the scene, he said.
Cause of the fire is unknown, Stewart said.
“Mr. Canter said there was no furnace (in the garage) and he had not been in there all night,” Stewart said. “Possibly, it was something electrical, but the cause now is undetermined.”
The intense heat melted siding on the house a short distance away. The house could have burned if firefighters hadn’t quickly assessed the situation, Canter said.
“I tip my hat to Chief Stewart and his small crew,” he said. “They did a a great job (of saving the house). Their quick decision made the difference.”
The garage was burning fiercely when units arrived, Stewart said.
“We concentrated on saving the house until we had more manpower,” Stewart said.
Among the three departments, 11 firefighters answered the alarm, Stewart said. The call was received at 2 a.m. Kingsville had a truck on the road at 2:07 a.m., and it arrived two minutes later, he said.
Subfreezing temperatures were a problem, Stewart said.
“Everything the water hit, it froze to it,” he said. “That was the worst problem.”
Kingsville’s fire station sits about a half-mile north of the garage, a few hundred feet from Route 193.
“When we rounded the corner (onto Route 193), we could see a glow in the sky,” Stewart said.
No injuries were reported, and units left the scene at 4:41 a.m., Stewart said. No dollar estimate of the damage to the building and contents had been made, he said.

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