ATHABASCA - A Wednesday night fire left a south Baptiste Lake property reduced to rubble despite the best efforts of the local volunteer firefighters.
Crews from the Baptiste Lake, Richmond Park, and Town of Athabasca fire departments responded to the call, which came in at around 10:30 p.m. the night of Aug. 7.
“We had to do a water shuttle for it, so we had a vehicle at the boat launch sucking water and feeding the tenders, and we had a water relay going to get the fire under control,” said Chris Turcot, the deputy fire chief for Athabasca County’s fire services. “It was a fairly difficult fire.”
The firefighters were unable to save the building but were able to prevent the fire from spreading further and prevent any personal injury.
“As devastating as the result, it is a total loss at the end of the day. We kept the fire to the property line, and it didn’t spread any further,” said Turcot. “I firmly believe that was the best outcome we were going to have at that incident.”
Firefighters worked on the fire until 5:30 a.m. the next morning, with fire watch efforts happening overnight. A few members stayed during the day of Aug. 8, and by 3 p.m. the scene had been cleared.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
