Uninsured family homeless after fire

A woman living with her son and two grandchildren are homeless after a fire destroyed their community-housing unit in the Overbrook Park area early yesterday morning.
Around 6:30 a.m. yesterday, Cindy Dorrington told family friend Stephen Sunday she smelled burning plastic coming from the basement at 268 Prince Albert Street. Sunday, who is visiting from Nova Scotia, said when they opened the door to the basement, thick, black smoke came billowing upstairs.
Sunday and Dorrington collected two grandchildren, a 12-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl, and ran out of the house. A 17–year-old son was not home at the time.
Thirty-eight firefighters and nine trucks responded to the blaze. Fire crews managed to restrict the fire mostly to the basement, with some damage to the first floor. Damage is estimated at around $200,000. Prince Albert St. at Naughton and Lola streets were closed for the investigation.
Dorrington was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene, but not taken to hospital.
“We’re lucky everybody got out safe,” said Sunday. “It’s only things that got destroyed, but she’s lost everything.”
Dorrington does not have insurance to cover her loss, Sunday said.
The fire is not considered suspicious, though investigators have yet to determine the exact cause of the blaze. Sunday said he believes the fire may have started near the electrical panel, or something placed near the furnace.
Also on the weekend, a fire in a single-family home on Northwind Street in the Avalon area of Orleans caused extensive damage, though there were no injuries.