Our Muskoka Lakes Fire Department went into action early this morning (June 6) to race to a blaze engulfing a cottage on North Bohemia Island, Lake Rosseau. Despite valiant efforts, they could not save it.

Early estimates suggested damages could be as high as $5 million. Muskoka Lakes Fire Chief Richard Hayes says the dollar loss "has now been formalized at 1.2-million). No one was at the cottage owned by the Hull family, and no one was hurt as a result of the fire.

Hayes says preliminary findings suggest the problem was electrical.

"We responded about 20 minutes after midnight to a call from an alarm company monitoring the fire alarm," says Hayes. "That response included Muskoka Lakes Station 5 (Minett) with their fireboat and Foot's Bay (Station 1) with their fireboat plus personnel from Windermere and Raymond (Station 7)."

Hayes says the 4500 square foot cottage marked as Unit 16 located on Bohemia Island is a complete loss.

Critical Safety Notes from Fire Chief Hayes:

1) seasonal residents should ensure their electrical systems and fuel fired appliances are checked before opening season; and,

2) the benefits of having a monitored fire alarm system really helps emergency response time.