Chimney failure causes fire in Oliver

An Oliver family is homeless after a fire in their home Wednesday morning.

At 8 a.m., the Oliver Volunteer Fire Department responded to reports of a fire on 93 Street.

"We had smoke billowing out of the eaves," says Fire Department Public Relations Officer Pat Somerville.

The 15 firefighters on scene managed to keep the fire from destroying the whole house.

"The fire ended up taking off half the roof. It was contained to a couple of rooms but there was smoke and water damage to the whole house," says Somerville.

One occupant of the residence was home at the time and escaped unharmed.

While the exact cause is under investigation, Somerville says they know the up-to-date metal chimney had something to do with it.

"Somehow the chimney failed and it got into the attic. Usually with these metal ones you don't have a problem. This is totally unusual."