NEWS PHOTO An early morning fire at 19 Chinook Drive on Monday caused significant damage as the blaze spread through the walls and into the attic.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
Three fire stations responded to a blaze at a home on Chinook Drive around 7 a.m. Monday.
“There was significant damage done to the house,” said Medicine Hat deputy fire chief Lance Purcell. “There will also be water damage of course, but there’s significant fire damage to the house.”
Residents of the house, not far from Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, were not home at the time. It was a neighbour who called for fire services, said Purcell.
“The occupants were out of town.”
Purcell said neighbouring properties were not impacted.
He said it is not possible to say at this stage where the fire started and what a possible cause may have been.
“It is under investigation and we have a fire investigator on scene (Monday),” said Purcell.
The initial knockdown of the fire was fairly quick after firefighters arrived on scene, but it spread through walls and into attic spaces, said Purcell. That made it more difficult to get at, adding time to putting it out.
There were no injuries as a result of the fire, said Purcell.
There were some challenges for firefighters. Purcell says fighting fires at -30 C is “quite difficult” and it has to be managed well. Crew members are sweating and getting wet in the process and that results in their gear becoming very rigid.
“The platoon chief, Lane Lindsay, did a great job on the scene to handle that fire,” said Purcell.
