Jackson-Walker Family Loses Home To Fire In Keelerville, Near Battersea

May 18, 2022

South Frontenac Fire Chief Darcy Knott enacted a Level 1 Fire ban late last week, because of dry conditions which led to several grass fires throughout the township.

One of those grass fires came as a secondary fire at the scene of a devastating house fire that claimed a family home and three pets on Tuesday, May 10. Jill Jackson, Jeff Walker, and their son Jackson Walker, were not home at the time.

“The fire was called in from a passerby who saw the flames and smoke. It was not surprising, therefore, that when our crews got to the house it was already fully engaged and there was no way to save the structure,” Chief Knott said.

The firefighters had a lot to contend with at the site. Two large propane tanks were spewing flames and had to be brought safely under control in order to burn off the contents.

And then the grass caught on fire. The ensuing wildfire extended for two acres and began to threaten neighbouring homes, but the fire crews were able to get it under control before any further damage to property was done.

“It was an active scene,” he said, “we had to have different crews address different aspects, and we called in support from the Leeds and a Thousand Islands department [based in nearby Seely's Bay] to help us out, which we very much appreciate.”

The cause of the fire cannot be determined because the damage was so great, and it is being classed as an accidental fire of undetermined cause.

For the Jackson family, who lost everything, including three pets, the loss has been devastating.

“The worst part was the loss of our animals,” said Jill Jackson, “that has been very hard, on all of us but especially our son.”

The family are staying at a cabin at the Loughborough Inn, where Jill works, for the time being and are looking for a rental location in the area. They plan to rebuild. The house was located on a lot that was severed from Jill’s family’s farm. The front of the house faced two creeks, feeding Horseshoe Lake.

The couple built the house themselves 17 years ago, with Jill acting as general contractor.

They were both at work when the fire started, Jeff at his family beef farm near Odessa, Jill at the Loughborough Inn, and Jackson was at Storrington Public School, where he is in grade 8.

Jeff was the first to know about the fire, because a device in the home notified him about the fire alarm. It took a few anxious meetings for him to be sure that neither Jill nor Jackson were at the house. The family gathered at the home to see the fire crews working to save what they could.

“It went up so fast,” she said of the house, “so fast.”

While they are devastated by the fire, and having trouble coming to terms with what Jill called “something I would not wish on my worst enemy,” they expressed tremendous gratitude to their neighbours and the local community, for stepping up.

“There has been so much kindness and support. I always knew we lived in a great community but I never knew how wonderful it is until now.”

A Gofundme page has been set up – Jeff, Jill, and Jackson’s Fire Relief Fund, and it has raised $5,880 so far.

Fire crews were called out a couple of days later to a garage fire, also in the Battersea area, and Jeff, Jill, and Jackson could hear the sirens as fire crews sped to the scene.

“That was really upsetting for us,” said Jill “We wondered what was going on.”

“Luckily, we got to that second fire in good time,” said Fire Chief Knott. “The crews had a great knockdown in that case and the fire did not spread to the house on the property. We are still looking at the cause of the garage fire. There was no relation between the two fires.”

Level One Fire Ban

The Level 1 fire ban in South Frontenac took effect on Friday, May 13.

“As much as everything looks green, there is quite a bit of dead foliage from last year, and it can go up very quickly, as we have seen over the last two weeks,” he said on Monday, May 16.

“There was some rain yesterday, and it is going to rain heavily this afternoon, but what we really need is a couple of days of steady rain for the moisture to seep into the ground. Until then, we will remain at risk.”

In South Frontenac, A Level One fire ban restricts the use of fireworks and open air burning for the purposes of burning grass, brush, or other combustible materials, but permits campfires and cooking fires.

“We did not want to stop people from camp and cooking fires with the long weekend coming, and under the circumstances a total fire ban is not necessary” he said.

Although the heavy rains early this week did not bring enough moisture to end the fire ban, they were heavy enough to make township fields too soft to use.

So, the fields have been closed by the Recreation Department because of high moisture levels on public fields, while a Level 1 Fire Ban is in place because of low moisture levels in the bush and grasslands.