Crews from the Saugeen Shores Fire Department battled a house fire and the elements Monday afternoon.
Firefighters were called to a home on Buckby Lane in Port Elgin around 12:30pm, arriving to find flames and heavy smoke coming from the roof of the two-storey home.
Fire Chief Phil Eagleson says strong winds and the hot and humid weather posed a challenge for the 34 firefighters on scene, adding they cycled through crews quickly, allowing for time to hydrate and cooling off, with humidex values in excess of 30 degrees at the time.
He says one firefighter had to be taken to hospital in Southampton as a precaution.
"The firefighters sure did a great job in hot, difficult conditions today and we cycled them through," says Eagleson. "One firefighter was taken to hospital for heat exhaustion, he was later treated and released and he's home resting comfortably now with no other injuries."
Eagleson says the owners of the home were away shopping when the fire broke out, but a relative was able to escape and later taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and held for observation.
He says the roof was badly damaged in the fire, though they were able to save the rest of the home, predicting the damage estimate will be in the area of $100,000.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
