“I was in the basement; I was just finishing my taxes,” said John Poirier as crews finished up after putting out the March 8 blaze in the northeast near the intersection of 12th Avenue and 2nd Street NE.
After a concerned neighbour knocked on their door to alert them of the situation, his wife quickly had a look and was stunned to see flames shooting up several feet high.
“When I came into my garage, I looked out the window — holy cow!” she said.
Without wasting another second, she shouted a warning downstairs.
“So I came rushing upstairs,” said Poirier.
The fire appeared to be coming from the collection bins on the side of the garage, he said.
When his wife contacted the Sundre Fire Department, she was informed fire crews had already been dispatched and were on their way.
“It seemed like forever, when you’re waiting,” she said.
“It seemed like a long time, but it was probably minutes,” Poirier added.
They were able to get their vehicles out of the garage, but could not immediately get their two cats out. However, firefighters were later able to find and rescue the felines unharmed.
The couple was checked by paramedics in an ambulance and subsequently released.
A social media post on the Sundre Fire Rescue Society’s page said crews from the Sundre Fire Department responded at about 1:30 p.m., and that while the garage fire was “knocked down fairly quickly,” the flames had spread into the attic. A ladder truck from the Olds Fire Department provided assistance to help extinguish the blaze in the attic.
"Having them there allowed Sundre Fire (Department) to avoid putting firefighters in a potentially dangerous situation on the rooftop. The fire was contained to the garage with minor damage to the remainder of the house,” reads the post.
No one was harmed, and the homeowners expressed gratitude to responders from both departments.
When contacted Monday morning, Sundre fire Chief Marty Butts said the garage was fully engulfed when responders arrived on scene.
“The fire was well on its way to take the whole house and was threatening the neighbouring house,” said Butts, adding that was what prompted his decision to request assistance from the Olds department.
Both of the Sundre department’s engines were also dispatched, along with a support unit and the chief’s command truck.
The initial “knock-down” of the fire took about 15-20 minutes upon arriving on scene, but crews continued to tackle the flames that lingered in the roof and attic for a while longer, he said, adding that despite sustaining some damage to the vinyl siding, the neighbouring house was otherwise all right.
Butts said the fire appeared to have started outside the garage along the side of the structure, and that an investigation to determine the exact cause was still underway.
However, he suspected ashes from a fireplace that had been disposed of were possibly the source of the fire. He advises people to exercise caution when cleaning out a wood fireplace, reminding residents that ashes can trap heat for days after a fire is put out.
The chief suggests placing the ashes in a metal bin, or spreading them out in a firepit in a yard, a distance away from the home or any other structure and combustible materials. They should never be left on a deck, he said.
The garage was a complete loss, and the fire did spread into one room in the house, leaving the owners to seek out alternate accommodations, he said, adding utilities had to be shut off.
But the fire could have rapidly spread to adjacent homes, and all things considered, Butts said the fast response resulted in a good outcome.
“I’d love to pat my guys on the back for this one, and Olds for their assistance,” he said, adding crews did precisely as they were trained to do.
“We could have lost multiple homes very quickly.”
- With files from Dan Singleton
