The cause of a fire in Forest Tuesday is still under investigation.
Lambton Shores Fire Chief Lawrence Swift said firefighters from Forest, Arkona and Thedford responded to a fire at home on King Street E., between Townsend Line and Arthur Street, around 3 p.m.
"When we arrived it was fully involved, however it was contained within the house and none of the windows had broken," said Swift. "So we tried to enter the house, the heat was astronomical and when we began fire suppression we had to of course open it up a little bit. Heavy, dense smoke throughout the house, it had been burning for quite some time before we got there."
Swift says the residents were not home at the time and no injuries were reported, however the family dog perished in the fire.
He says despite the extensive damage to the rest of the home, two upstairs bedrooms were untouched by fire since the doors were closed.
"The bedspread was still colourful and stuff like that," he said. "The link is that closing your door at night buys you an awful lot of time when it comes to a fire. Closing the door is a very effective fire stop and smoke stop, even through this fire that burned for quite some period of time, the two bedrooms were not that affected."
Damage is estimated at between $700,000 and $800,000.