Eganville – The chief of the Bonnechere Valley Fire Department said Friday morning’s fatal fire that claimed the life of well-known Eganville entertainer and businessman, Steve Agnew, destroyed the residence faster than any other fire he has ever seen in the course of his 20 years on the job.
Darryl Wagner told the Leader Monday his department had absolutely no chance of saving anything due to the speed in which the fire spread, combined with it being well advanced when it was first reported.
The department was dispatched for a fully involved structure fire at approximately 5:10 a.m. and as Chief Wagner was leaving his home on Jane Street, he thought perhaps it might be an old, abandoned residence on John Street. He was not prepared for what he would soon discover.
“I thought it was this other house until I rounded the corner at the bridge and when I was coming over to John Street, I could see where the glow was,” he said. “I had a sneaky suspicion then whose house it was and I thought, ‘not again’.”
The Agnews lost their home in the same location in November 2018 when it and a neighbouring home were destroyed and five others were damaged.
“I was the first on scene and it was fully involved,” he added. “A firefighter was headed to work and heard the page and arrived right behind me.”
He said despite other firefighters arriving “quite quickly” and getting water on it, the fire was too advanced to save anything.
“We got water on the exposure (the Houlihan house to the west); we tried to concentrate on that first. Then when we turned to the burning house. We had it pretty much knocked down within an hour.
“But it was such a rapidly moving fire, it consumed the whole structure; it was just gone,” he added. “I’ve never seen one advance this quickly.”
Once dawn broke and firefighters were advised there was possibly one person inside the residence, members searched the perimeter of the home and walked through Centennial Park (located behind the residences on John Street) to see if Mr. Agnew had escaped and wandered outside injured.
Chief Wagner said there were three large propane tanks at the back of the garage to the east side of the house, and another single tank at the rear.
“We had water on them and then once we were able to get close, we shut them down. There were some residual blowouts in the line, but there was no danger.”
He described the home as being of light-weight construction, which does not stand up to fire like the older heritage homes.
“It was an open concept, so basically there’s a lot of air if the fire really gets rolling,” he explained. “There was just no stopping it. It had a head start.”
In addition, much of the furnishings, cabinets, etc. now are more flammable than in the past, he noted.
Chief Wagner notified the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office (OFM) when he became aware within the first half-hour that Mr. Agnew was unaccounted for, adding his pickup truck was parked in the driveway. At approximately 8:30, Ontario Provincial Police confirmed Mr. Agnew was unaccounted for and he relayed that information to the OFM.
“I was touching base with the inspector, who was coming from Fenelon Falls, and he said he’d be arriving about 11:45,” he said. “No one was going in. We were trying to preserve the scene, so we stayed on the outside and hit the hot spots.”
An excavator was brought in to remove some of the heavy debris while he got a copy of the floor plans of the house, which he had easy access to as he is also the Chief Building Official (CBO) in BV.
“Then we started the search,” he said. “It was around 3:30 Friday afternoon when we located him and then everything kind of stops while you wait for the coroner.”
The coroner arrived about 5:30 from Ottawa and conducted his investigation. They were on scene until 9 p.m.
Chief Wagner said there was a flare-up Saturday morning and the smaller crew assisting the OFM investigators extinguished it.
“The OFM was sifting through to try and determine the cause, but there was no way to determine what started this,” he stated. “Even though we stayed out of it and sprayed in, there was just too much gone.
“But we did come up with the room of origin, which was at the back left side of the house,” he added.
Investigators determined the fire was not suspicious in nature.
The department had 14 personnel on scene, some of whom were released Friday around 2 p.m.
Chief Wagner was contacted by several neighbouring fire chiefs to see if they could provide assistance and he accepted their offers. The Greater Madawaska and Admaston/Bromley (Douglas) departments were put on standby for any calls in the south end of the township in the Dacre area.
“We were getting a little thin, so I reached out to both chiefs,” he said.
The scene was cleared at 3:30 Sunday afternoon, after Mr. Agnew’s wife, Jackie, and her family went to the site.
Tough Fire For Personnel
It was a tough call for several of the firefighters, some who knew the Agnews as friends and some who fought the 2018 fire that destroyed their home on a cold, windy November afternoon.
“Some of them were reflecting the last time they were there was a Wednesday in November, it was minus 20 and the wind was blowing like crazy,” he said. “And there we were, back on a Friday, when it was quite warm, with no wind.”
Many firefighters knew of Mr. Agnew’s involvement in the community, and they were sharing that with the younger members who did not know him as well. He said the department did conduct some internal debriefing sessions due to the serious nature of the fire, adding someone will be coming in to talk to firefighters at a later date.
“I asked when we were on scene and gathered around those who knew him well. Some new to the service knew of him,” he remarked. “It’s an awful blow to the community. He was so well-known even in the musical world through his contributions.”
Chief Wagner said he got to know Mr. Agnew a lot better over the last two years as the CBO because Mr. Agnew was a contractor and they would have regular conversations on building matters.
“I never had any issues with him; he was very good,” he said of his reputation in the business.
Upset By Comments
Over the course of the fire and the follow-up investigation, Chief Wagner was very upset with some of the comments that were and continue to be made on social media.
“Social media did not aid in this whatsoever,” he stated. “You can’t control what people say, and the problem with social media is you’re not held accountable for anything you do.
“So, people start spreading rumours and then someone adds to the rumour,” he added. “I’m so disgusted with social media.”
The fire department issued a statement on social media asking for people to be respectful.
“We’ve been told rumour and speculation are running rampant on social media. Shut it down if you see it. The family deserves better from their community,” the post stated.
