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Julle Slack CANADIAN CHAMPION STAFF Milton Fire Department, thick black smoke billowing out of the home after arriving on scene. The fire had started at the sump pump, where the switch caused sparks that ignited. MFD fire inspection officer Steve Ellis said the damage was mostly contained to the one room, which served as a pantry. Damage is estimated at $50,000. "With the occupants out of the residence for the evening this is one occurrence where monitored smoke alarms saved hundreds Mario Brilhante wants to make sure more people know that a new sump pump could save their house from burning down. He‘d know better than anyone. The Milton man received a phone call from the alarm company monitoring his mother‘s house on Featherstone Road, just around the corner from him. Last Thursday at 11 p.m., he discovered, along with members of the | Thursday, December 15, 2016 | 20 Milton‘s Boutique Optical We do it in about an hour! (eyeglasses) Matador Eyeworks 365 Main St. East. | Ph: 289â€"878â€"3559 | www.matadoreyeworks.com LIVE A LIFE ioi Here is what our staff and residents have to say. comm )EPOSIT BY THE END OF DECEMBER FOR YOUR LAST CHANCE AT 2016 RATES 905â€"582â€"0395 3136 DUNDAS STREET WEST OAKVILLE on verveseniorliving.com of thousands of dollars in dollar loss," added MFD deputy chief Dave Pratt. "If not for the monitoring company alerting the fire deâ€" partment, the fire would have grown until a , neighbour was alerted." The room â€" used for storage of household items and canned goods â€" was destroyed and the entire twoâ€"storey home suffered extensive smoke damage, Brilhante said. His 75â€"yearâ€"old mother is the home‘s sole occupant. Restoration services have been removing most of the items from inside the home since "I was just getting ready to go to bed when I got the call from the alarm company,‘ Brilâ€" hante recalled. "Fortunately (mom) was at my sister‘s or she would have been dead." He said he had no idea how long the fire had been smouldering. The pedestal sump pump, which is to blame for the blaze, was about 10 years old. Mere weeks ago, Pratt had advised Milton residents â€" through the media‘â€" to check their sump pumps and use a submersible style model. Following several house fires, including one that almost caused serious injury, Pratt conâ€" cluded there was one commonality among them: they were using a stem or column style sump pump. Brilhante was incensed to discover how many Sump pumpspaflsfimmusngappmnmablySSOKhdanap homes are being built with the stem/column style of pump. "I‘d say 85 per cent of people don‘t know he said. "The cheap ones overheat and : get rusty and the shutâ€"oif lever stays on and then it burns and sparks a fire, "The fire was so extreme at my mom‘s house it melted the water pipes and all the water from the pipes actually helped to control the fire" He promptly went out to buy a submersible pump for a few hundred dollars at a local store. it has already been installed.