An early afternoon fire on a rural property about 10 kilometres southeast of Westlock destroyed a garage and three vehicles last Thursday, but fortunately nobody was injured.
John Biro, Westlock County Fire Chief, said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but the result of the fire was fairly significant.
“ It was a three-car garage, with vehicles all inside. It was a total loss of the structure itself,” he said.
Although the garage was destroyed, Biro said it was lucky that the adjacent house, which was only a few metres away, was not damaged.
“With the wind conditions, it was favourable for the loss of the house as well, but with the response of Clyde getting water on the structure itself, they were able to knock it down really quickly,” he said. “It could have been a lot worse.”
About a dozen firefighters from both the Clyde and Westlock Rural fire departments responded to the scene, which Biro said is a good turnout for a rural fire in the early afternoon.
“During the days, it’s pretty hard for the volunteers to get away from where they work, especially in the rural areas,” he said. “A lot of them work away from the town or village.”
Despite response sometimes being “skimpy” during the workday, Biro said members of the Westlock Rural department were at the hall within minutes of getting the call.
“The response time was remarkable for the time of day,” he said, “and they did a good job.”
