The remains of a charred mattress seemed out of place on the sidewalk where kids used to watch model trains weave their way through the grass at the northeast corner of Cadboro Bay Road and Estevan Avenue.
No one was injured in the fire that damaged the second storey and attic at 2609 Cadboro Bay Rd., where an aged sign for the Finbar Forest R.R. hangs.
Oak Bay firefighters responded to reports of smoke coming from the attic and rear of the home at 11 a.m. Monday, Fire Chief Dave Cockle said.
“Firefighters met the homeowner coming out of the building at the front door and took her to safety, then went in and knocked the fire down,” he said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but firefighters believe it began in the mattress and was accidental.
The home is where Fred Malone ran the Finbar Forest R.R., an expansion of his hobby model railway beyond the confines of his backyard. Malone made archways through fences, extending tracks past miniature stations, over bridges around trees and along the grassy boulevard.
The tracks are still visible but are now overgrown with weeds.
One elderly woman lives in the home, Cockle said. She went to hospital for unrelated reasons.
The smoke alarms were effective, he said.
