A western P.E.I. man had to leap from a second floor window after a fire began in the workshop below his apartment.

Provincial Fire Marshal Dave Blacquiere said the fire began in the woodworking shop early Monday morning.

"The gentleman that lived above the workshop had to jump out of the upstairs window and jump 12 to 15 feet [four to five metres] to the ground," Blacquiere said.

"He was very fortunate that he didn't hurt himself. It was filled with smoke and he had no other acceptable avenue to get out of that building than to go that way."

Sparks from a bench grinder had ignited some combustible material in the shop, Blacquiere said, adding that it was the second fire in the last few days caused by a bench grinder.

He's urging people who do this kind of work in their shops to use extreme caution.

2 homes burn in Summerside

Meanwhile, two families in Summerside are temporarily homeless after fire destroyed two houses and an outbuilding on Arcona Street on Friday night.

That fire also appears to have started in a workshop.

"We believe it may have started from the owner [who] was doing some work in the building earlier and may have inadvertently caused a problem there. He was doing some metal work, grinding and so on," said Summerside Fire Chief Jim Peters.

The fire began at around 9 p.m. in an outbuilding of one of the homes, spread to the house and then leapt to the neighbour's house.

"The shed is gone. The owner's house, the upstairs is totally gutted, and the neighbour's house, burnt the side off it," Peters said.

"All three buildings were in flames when we arrived and it was quite windy at the time, but with a good water supply we were able to knock down the fire fairly quickly," the chief added.

Everyone escaped injury and both homes were insured.