Two firefighters are safe and uninjured after they partially went through the floor of an unoccupied home while battling a structure fire in Oyster River Thursday afternoon. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a scary thing and as soon as that happened, fire-fighter safety becomes our priority so we pulled them back out and started doing an exterior attack,鈥� says Bruce Green fire chief of Oyster River Fire Rescue.

Fire crews were initially called to the older home in the 2300 block of Catherwood following a report of electrical issues and smoke inside the structure and found smoke coming out of the roof area when they arrived.

鈥漈here were obvious electrical issues, we could hear the sparking in the house and there (were) flames starting to spread into the house,鈥� Green says. 

The home is situated blocks from the fire hall and hadn鈥檛 been occupied for years, according to neighbours. The couple who own the building resides in a trailer next door, and saving that trailer from catching fire was a priority of firefighters.

A neighbour directly across from the burning home could be seen spraying down a vehicle and grass in her yard, concerned that flying embers could spread the blaze given the dry conditions - a concern echoed by Green.

鈥淓specially this time of year, like we鈥檙e just putting a fire ban on tomorrow, we鈥檙e always worried about ember control and spreading to the grass.鈥� 

Crews also had to deal with live power lines during their efforts until a crew from BC Hydro arrived to disconnect the service.  Green says the owners indicated they didn鈥檛 know the house still had service until the fire started. 

鈥淭he homeowners thought that the power was out and they were doing some stuff which I think caused the electrical issue, as it turns out it looks like there was a line coming directly from the hydro line to the pole that wasn鈥檛 thought about,鈥� he adds.