Fire officials are investigating an early morning basement fire in South Walkerville that has left a family of five without a home.
Windsor Fire and Rescue Services responded to a call at 2175 Woodlawn Ave. at around 7:45 a.m.
Hussein Zarif, asleep when the blaze began, said waking up to clouds of thick, hot smoke on the main floor of his family’s house was like “a bad dream.”
He said at first, he thought the smoke was coming from the oven, so he ran toward the kitchen to shut it off.
But he said the smoke was too thick and he couldn’t get any air.
“I wasn’t sure what to do and I was holding my breath,” he said. “I just jumped out of the window.”
Both Hussein and his brother Hassan were able to escape the flames before fire crews arrived and tackled the blaze through a side entrance.
Windsor fire Insp. Dave O’Neil said that the brothers and the other three residents who were not home at the time of the fire cannot stay in the house because of the damage.
O’Neil said officials estimate the damage at around $175,000 and that they cannot determine a cause at this time.
Hussein said calling his parents, who were away on a camping trip with his sister, to tell them about the damage to their home was difficult.
But he said he was glad they weren’t home during the fire, because they might not have escaped so easily.
“At least we’ve still got our health and everyone’s OK,” he said.
O’Neil said one of the brothers was being checked out by EMS on the scene after complaining of chest pains, but that neither has suffered serious injuries.
Yellow caution tape surrounds a home at 2175 Woodlawn Ave. after a house fire, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Two young males self evacuated the home. No serious injuries reported.(DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
Two young males are wrapped in EMS blankets after escaping a house fire at 2175 Woodlawn Ave., Sunday, June 30, 2013. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
A young male, wrapped in an EMS blanket, looks through the basement window after he and another male escaped a house fire at 2175 Woodlawn Ave., Sunday, June 30, 2013. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
