‘Thank God nobody was hurt’: Quick-thinking neighbours save lives in Georgetown house fire

A massive house fire broke out early Friday morning in Georgetown, causing significant damage to three homes and prompting a large emergency response.

Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) said officers were dispatched to a home on Arborglen Drive at approximately 4:23 a.m. after reports of a residential fire. Upon arrival, first responders found one home fully engulfed in flames, with the fire quickly spreading to two adjacent residences.

All occupants from the affected homes were safely evacuated. One individual was treated for minor injuries, but no serious injuries have been reported.

Halton Hills Fire Department crews worked to contain the blaze, bringing it under control after several hours. Officials confirmed that the fire is not considered suspicious, and there is no indication of criminal activity.

The Ontario Fire Marshal (OFM) has been called in to investigate the cause of the fire. HRPS remains on scene to assist with traffic control in the area.

OFM investigator Chris ter Stege said community safety is their priority right now, along with finding the cause and origin of the blaze.

“We’re way too early in the investigation to determine [the cause] right now. Our focus is the safety of the community, to make sure that there’s no migrating gases or threats to the public in the house.”

There was also an electric vehicle in the garage at the time of the blaze, which ter Stege confirmed will be a part of the investigation.

He added that so far, there is nothing to indicate anything suspicious about this fire.

Video surveillance shows neighbours assisting

The homeowner, Vesna Nikolic, tells CityNews they are lucky to be alive after the explosion woke them up early this morning. She said that by the time she went to check on her oldest son, smoke had already begun to come up the stairs.

“It’s just crazy how fast it all escalated. And I’m very, very happy that we got out in time, because by the time that I was even jumping out of the window like the black smoke was already getting into the master bedroom,” said Nikolic.

Two neighbours, Ammad Chaudhary and Patrick Macra, who helped the residents inside escape, say they were awoken to a huge bang and thought a tree had fallen. As they stepped outside, they heard yelling coming from the back of the house, with people calling out, “Help us.”

The family of four was standing on the roof of the house, where they managed to find plywood and a ladder, and helped all the residents of the home escape.

“As soon as we came out here, there was a second big explosion, and we had all of them on our front lawn. This all happened within three, four minutes … thank god, nobody was hurt,” said Chaudhary.

Firefighters later told them that the family might not have made it if it weren’t for them.

“We’re very glad that they are safe,” said Chaudhary. “We just wanted to help, just wanted to make sure that we got them down and got them safe.”

Nikolic said they are just focused on where they are going to sleep tonight and feed their children after their home and everything in it was destroyed.