Fire August 10, 2022 at Needham-Jay Funeral Home. Photo courtesy of the Petrolia and North Enniskillen Fire Dept. via Facebook.Fire August 10, 2022 at Needham-Jay Funeral Home. Photo courtesy of the Petrolia and North Enniskillen Fire Dept. via Facebook.
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UPDATE: No injuries reported in Petrolia fire

No injuries were reported in a fire Wednesday evening at Needham-Jay Funeral Home.

Firefighters from the Petrolia and North Enniskillen Fire Department responded to a structure fire in the 4000 block of Petrolia Line at around 8 p.m.

Fire Chief Jay Arns said crews arrived quickly, and were able to prevent the fire from spreading from the upstairs apartment to the rest of the building.

He said if not for working smoke alarms, the outcome could have been far worse.

"There was a family upstairs in the apartment, two adults and two young children," said Arns. "Everybody escaped uninjured. Smoke alarms alerted them inside the building and they were able to get out before anybody was injured or hurt."

Needham-Jay Funeral Home Owner and Manager Steve Mailloux said the main floor, which is the operating part of the funeral home, had "a fair bit of water damage."

"We're already working on getting that repaired and finding out what the future holds for us," he said.

For now, the funeral home is operating out of its Wyoming location. Mailloux said alternate arrangements for planned visitations and such are also being made.

"I've already spoken to community halls and churches here in Petrolia so we have options available to us there as well," said Mailloux. "We're working to make sure that we can stay as operational as possible over the period of time that our building is not going to be available to us."

An investigation into the cause of the blaze is ongoing. Damage was pegged at around $400,000.

-With files from Natalia Vega

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