No one was injured when a home burned down southeast of Clyde in the afternoon of Sept. 5.
County fire chief John Biro said Clyde and Westlock Rural firefighters responded to a structure fire in the area of Range Road 244 and Township 594 at around 2:30 p.m. last Thursday.
Biro was first on scene about nine minutes after the call came in.
“The structure itself was about three-quarters fully engulfed with fire,” he said.
Firefighters arrived shortly thereafter, and had the fire knocked down in about three minutes. However, even though they were quick to get the flames under control, it was too late to save the building. Biro classified it as a “total loss.”
Responders remained on scene for about three hours, he said, and were back at the hall and in service by around 7 p.m. However, they were back at the scene later that evening until around 11:30 p.m. mopping up some hot spots.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, Biro added, but said early indications are it started in the kitchen.
The blaze could have been a greater tragedy if it were not for a working smoke detector in the house.
“The resident was home at the time,” Biro said. “He was sleeping and was awoke by the smoke detector going off.”
Once woken up, the resident tried to escape twice before finally succeeding. Once outside, he tried to douse the flames, but gave up and called 911.
Biro said although the resident had good intentions, trying to extinguish the flames himself meant the firefighters’ arrival was delayed.
On the flip side, Biro said the resident’s survival speaks to the value of having a working smoke detector.
“It definitely shows that smoke alarms do save lives,” he said.
“If it weren’t for his smoke detector, it could have been a different outcome.”
Biro went on to say he recommends people to ensure they have working smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. He added people should replace their units if they are more than 10 years old.
On Sept. 3, county firefighters responded to ditch fire north of Jarvie along Highway 44.
Biro said the flames covered about 100 yards of the ditch, and spread out of the ditch into an adjacent field, burning about three to five acres of crops.
The spreading flames tell Biro that it’s getting to that time of year when the ground and grasses start drying out, making brush fires more likely.
