Two people were taken to hospital with smoke inhalation after a late-night house fire in Grand Forks.
Grand Forks Fire Rescue Chief Rich Piché said the department received reports a blaze at the intersection of 22nd Street and Central Avenue at about 11:20 p.m. on Sept. 30.
He said the back side of the house was fully engulfed when he arrived.
“I was the first to respond and en route I did get a report from one of our firefighters that the house was fully involved and there were people out on the front lawn,” Piché said.
After an initial assessment, crews stretched lines from several hydrants to knock down the fire, with priority given to neighbouring homes on the north and west sides.
“So we protected those and worked the fire defensively only. We had about 25 firefighters and around eight apparatus respond.”
RCMP closed Highway 3 for about two hours to allow crews to access a hydrant that required lines to cross the highway.
Emergency medical crews also attended the scene and treated the two homeowners for minor smoke inhalation.
The pair were then transffered to hospital for overnight observation.
Piché said he spoke with them Wednesday morning and they seemed to be doing well.
“Everybody was confirmed out of the house. We had the two homeowners adjacent shelter in place. We felt they were safe and we had a pretty decent knockdown at the house at that point, but we didn’t evacuate them.”
It took about an hour to control the blaze, but crews remained on scene until shortly after 2 a.m. monitoring hot spots.
The structure was a single-level home with a basement. Piché said the main floor suffered extensive damage, but the basement was fairly intact.
“There was quite extensive damage. It got right up into the attic space, so end-to-end. But the basement, it looks fairly intact. Doesn’t look to be any fire damage at all. There could be a bit of water damage and some smoke, but all their contents look to be all intact.”
Four pet birds inside the home could not be rescued during the homeowners evacuation.
Piché does not believe the structure is salvageable, though some contents might be recoverable.
“We’ll hopefully be able to check when it’s safe to do so if there’s anything, you know, precious items and stuff like that. But I would say in my experience, I’ve seen homes with a lot less damage that ended up getting replaced.”
The cause remains under investigation, but Piché said it does not appear suspicious.
The incident has prompted an outpouring of support from the Grand Forks community.
Local businesses like Mountainview Meats have stepped up to help the homeowners recover from the loss.
“The house fire on Central was devastating and heartbreaking to witness. We commend the first responders that responded quickly to deal with the fire and control the scene, and the community that was prepared at a moment’s notice to assist,” the business wrote in a Facebook post.
“We will be donating all of our cash tips this week, and can be another drop-off point for cash donations and gift cards. We don’t want to overload the town with a dozen spots, but as a business, we have to do everything in our power to step up and help our community. One day it could be us. Until it is, we will always help.”
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