St Clair Township fire investigators are trying to determine what caused a blaze which heavily damaged a Corunna home.

Chief Richard Boyes says the Corunna and Courtright fire departments were called to 679 Bentinck Drive just after 8 am Sunday. “The homeowner smelled smoke or smelled burning plastic and went to investigate in the garage and found the fire outside the house,” Boyes says.

The homeowners – Chuck and Jess Edgar – and their two children got out of the building and over to the neighbours before firefighters arrived.

The fire climbed up the building and into the roof of the home. “Fire went up there and got into the roof and travelled through the voids in the roof and made it fairly difficult to get at,” Boyes says adding that caused significant fire, smoke and water damage throughout the home.

Friends have set up an online fundraiser for the family saying all of their belongings have been lost in the blaze.

Boyes has pegged the damage to the home at $300,000 and says insurance adjusters will determine if the home can be repaired. Whatever the case, the chief says the family will be out of their home for a “significant period of time.”

It’s unclear what sparked the blaze due to the heavy damaged outside the garage where the fire started. “There was a garbage bin there; there was a hydro meter there; so we’re trying to rule out different options,” says Boyes.