A historic mansion has burned to the ground in rural New Brunswick. The century-old home in Codys was built in the early 1900s and became a landmark in the tiny community, but flames destroyed the house this morning.
"It's kind of a shame to see the old homes disappear like they are," says Codys resident Allan Bond, who witnessed the fire.
"It used to be quite a landmark. If someone was coming, you'd tell them to look for the big brown house and give them direction to where they were going."
Fire crews from five communities responded to the blaze around 9 a.m. Friday, but the 26-room mansion was already engulfed in flames. It burned to the ground within hours.
"We couldn't get too close because of the size and the heat that was coming off it," says Capt. David Craft of the Cambridge Narrows Fire Department. "We just tried to hit it with water."
The home was built in 1906 and was home to Anna Hetherington and her husband Judson, who became an MLA, Speaker of the House and the provincial secretary treasurer.
A couple from Western Canada recently purchased the mansion, but they were not home with the fire broke out this morning.
No one was injured in the blaze, but nothing was salvaged from the home.
RCMP and fire officials are still trying to determine in what area of the home the fire started, and what caused it.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Dina Bartolacci
