CENTRE BURLINGTON, N.S. — A well-known Hants County fisherman never imagined he’d be coming home to sheer devastation.
But, around 10:45 a.m. Sept. 27, that’s exactly what he discovered when he pulled into his yard and saw his home and two vehicles destroyed by an early morning fire.
“When I pulled into my driveway, I sat there for a half an hour behind the truck and never even got out of my vehicle,” said Darren Porter, in a phone interview. “I never imagined it was that bad.”
The Brooklyn Fire Department was paged to a structure fire in the 2700 block of Highway 215 around 3:15 a.m. that day.
Brooklyn deputy fire chief George Pineo said they were unsure if people were inside the one-storey home when they arrived on scene so they conducted an interior search.
Firefighters determined no one was home at the time of the fire, and later had contact with the family confirming that fact.
“We’re just glad that there was nobody in the house and no animals or pets — and grateful for having our mutual aid partners to come and bring the resources and the manpower,” said Pineo in a phone interview.
Due to how quickly the fire spread, Porter, who was in Cape Breton at the time, said he was lucky he wasn’t home.
“I never leave; I’m always working. I work seven days a week,” said Porter. “And the fireman told me the way the fire went, from the garage in(wards), and the intense heat... they said I would never have made it out if I had’ve been home. I guess I’m pretty lucky.”
About 35 firefighters were on scene, with mutual aid coming from Summerville, Windsor, Hantsport, and Walton.
“The structure itself is pretty much destroyed,” said Pineo of the homestead.
“The house itself had a two car garage and that’s where the heaviest load of fire was — it was on the garage side leading into the house.”
Vehicles located in the driveway were also destroyed, including a 2018 Hot Wheels special edition Camaro — something Porter bought mere weeks ago for around $70,000.
“We’ve had some really hard years where we didn’t make any money. We couldn’t go anywhere. Finally, the last two years I’ve been doing good and we bought the car together as a family thing,” said Porter of the Camaro.
“It was the 50th anniversary edition of Hot Wheels. We just never had nothing like that. Everything I got was for work. I have nothing that’s not for work. This was just a family thing instead of a work thing.”
The loss stings as Porter tries to find the words to express what the vehicle meant to him and his children — especially his sons.
Porter, who has been an outspoken advocate when it comes to fish and providing them safe passage through Nova Scotia’s waterways, said he’s struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss.
“For a guy who takes on giant companies and government I have no comprehension of what my next step is. I just want to hide my head,” said Porter.
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The fisherman who frequently holds Facebook Live info sessions while out on the water says he has been overwhelmed by the concern the community has shown for his loss, and said he appreciates each and every one of the messages of support he’s received.
“It’s overwhelming. I feel upset that I can’t get back to everybody but it’s nice to know people care,” said Porter, noting he has received more than 1,000 messages to date.
Porter said the experience has really served as an eye opener when it comes to how much volunteer firefighters do for citizens.
“I’d like to emphasize how fortunate we are that we have these people in our communities that volunteer so much of themselves,” said Porter.
The fire marshal conducted a review at the scene and Porter said his insurance adjuster, along with another group of investigators, attended his property in the afternoon.
He said it appears the fire was electrical in nature, possibly started by a rodent chewing through wires.
