If it were not for functioning smoke detectors, a house fire just north of Lilac Resort this morning may have turned out very differently.

“There were two residents in the home at the time and they were awoken by their smoke alarms,” describes John Desrochers, the fire chief for the Town of Ste. Anne. “They were a little bit shaken up at how quickly the building was consumed with smoke, but are very thankful for their smoke detectors.”

Desrochers says the couple fled the building once they realized it was on fire and contacted his department immediately. He says firefighters showed up at the scene around 2 AM and found the building engulfed in black smoke.

“Our crews started an offensive attack, we found the fire in the basement, and relatively quickly, we were able to put it out,” he states. “Everything went rather textbook for this one so we were pretty grateful for that. The guys did a fantastic job.”

Though the significant damage is contained to the basement, and the frame of the house is salvageable, Desrochers says smoke and water damage throughout the premises will make it a mess to clean up. He notes the home is insured, but restoration will be a long process.

Fire crews spent roughly five hours monitoring the building and extinguishing any hot spots. They left around 7 AM.

The Office of the Fire Commissioner did investigate the blaze and suspects it may have been sparked by an electrical malfunction caused by an exposed wire. The total damage estimate is pending.