One home was reduced to ash and another seriously damaged after a fire broke out in the small Alberta community of Irricana on Saturday.
Bill Wool with Rocky View Fire Services says they received a call about the blaze at around 5 a.m., and that crews from a handful of communities arrived to help.
“Rocky View County here with Irricana station,” explained Wool. “The Balzac fire station was here. We also had crews from Crossfield and Airdrie.”
Crews spent the morning fighting the blaze, eventually bringing it under control enough to allow workers with ATCO to shut off a natural gas line that had ruptured.
Greg Simpson, who lives just across the street, told Global News his mother-in-law woke him up after initially mistaking the sound of the flames for rain.
“She hollered at us, and when we went out there it was just the one deck of the house and the fence was on fire,” Simpson said. “We called 911 and it just expanded from there and engulfed both houses.”
Thankfully all the occupants of each home were able to escape without injury.
Living in a small town, word travels fast. Neighbours Holly and Emily MacCharles began collecting donations to make sure their fellow Irricana residents didn’t have to go without.
“I can only imagine what the one family is going thought with two young boys,” Holly MacCharles said. “We’re a community, so why not try and help out as best we can with anything they need.”
By noon they had already collected plenty of clothing and food items with people from as far as Calgary making the 50-minute drive to deliver what they could.
MacCharles also said they’ve started a GoFundMe for the family which as of Saturday afternoon had raised nearly $4,000.
“We’re hoping to get $50,000, if not more, to split between both families. That way it helps them out with a rental or something … so they have somewhere to go.”
Fire crews say they’ll remain on scene throughout Saturday to ensure any hotspots are extinguished. They are continuing to investigate the cause of the fire.