West Grey firefighters needed about 20 minutes to douse the flames at a residential structure fire on Highway 6 south of Dornoch.
West Grey Fire Chief Phil Schwartz said firefighters were called out just before 2 p.m. Monday afternoon and had assistance from the Township of Chatsworth and Markdale fire departments.
He said they arrived at about 2 p.m. to find heavy smoke and some flames coming from a wooden bungalow.
"The cause would be a space heater which was being used to thaw pipes under the building, in the crawl space," he said. "You would be better off to go and buy the cable that goes around the pipe, and then it has a thermostat on it."
The house suffered heavy fire damage in a bathroom and attic and smoke damage throughout.
No one was hurt, as the couple that lived in the home had gone out for the afternoon.
West Grey firefighters knocked down the blaze quickly but were on scene for four hours doing an overhaul.
