The Laurentian Valley Fire Department is investigating the cause of a house fire on Mud Lake Road Wednesday night.

Around 9:30 p.m., passing motorists on their way home form Ottawa noticed the flames coming from the roof of the residence located at 79 Mud Lake Road and stopped. The man knocked on the door of the residence in an attempt to see if there was anyone inside. There was nobody home at the time the fire began upstairs, in what is believed to be the master bedroom, according to Laurentian Valley Fire Chief John Primeau.

By the time the first firefighters arrived on the scene, the flames were through the roof of the bungalow and the smoke was visible from some distance, the chief noted.

Although he wouldn't speculate on the value of damage, Chief Primeau would say the house sustained extensive smoke, water and fire damage.

Adding to the challenge of fighting the fire was the fact that it was in the attic, in addition to the fact the firefighters had two tankers travelling about three kilometres back and forth from the scene to shuttle water from the hydrant near KI.

A total of 18 personnel from Laurentian Valley responded to the call and the Petawawa Fire Department was called in under mutual aid with two members from Petawawa remaining on standby at the Laurentian Valley fire hall.

The fire was under control in about an hour and everyone had cleared the scene by about 2:30 a.m., according to the chief. On Thursday, individuals were on the scene boarding up the windows of the home.

The chief also returned to the scene to continue his investigation into the cause.

Tina Peplinskie is a Daily Observer multimedia journalist

tina.peplinskie@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @TPeplinskieOBS