An unattended deep fryer, cooking chicken wings when it ignited, is blamed for a devastating fire in Courtright Saturday.
About 50 St. Clair Township firefighters from the Courtright, Corunna and Brigden stations, responded to the fire on Templeton Crescent at around 5:55 p.m.
Chief Richard Boyes said two single family homes were fully engulfed on arrival, and both families are now homeless leading up to Christmas.
"The fire started in the garage due to unattended cooking," said Boyes. "The initial house became fully involved, then spread to the second residence."
He said the damage to both homes was extensive.
"We're probably looking at a $1.5 million loss between the two homes, fifth wheel trailer, and pickup truck," Boyes said.
He said three pets were rescued from the homes.
"There were no civilian or firefighter injuries," Boyes said. "The firefighters did an amazing job of trying to get control of the fire in quick order. As I said, there was extensive fire in both dwellings, so we wound up with stations one, two, and three at the call."
He said it will be up to insurance to determine if both homes were a total loss.
Jars collecting monetary donations for the families have been placed at Courtright Variety and Watson Timber Mart.
Watson Timber Mart employee Cathy Vickerd is also accepting donations until the end of this week, via e-transfer, at gcvickerd@hotmail.com.