Two homes in southeast Edmonton were heavily damaged during a fire Monday morning.
Firefighters were called just before 6 a.m. to a single family home on 67 Street SW, near 19 Avenue SW, in the Summerside neighbourhood.
Sandra Manseau lives next door to the house where the fire began.
“Around six o’clock the dog jumped out of the bed — and she never does that. She went straight downstairs. I thought she needed to pee so we went outside,” Manseau said.
“I heard some cracking but I couldn’t see or smell anything — the wind is on the wrong side.” She said she went to check out where the sound was coming from, but the flames had already spread to her own home, triggering their alarms.
“My husband, at that point, had already heard out alarm go off. He yelled at me, ‘Sandra, the neighbour’s deck is on fire!’ So we looked and then we called 911 right away.”
Firefighters arrived six minutes later to find both that home, and a neighbouring house, consumed by flames.
“Surprisingly, both houses were already gone by the time they got here. They went quick,” Manseau said.
At least one resident was on scene when fire crews arrived, Edmonton Fire Rescue said.
Manseau and her husband they left the house with their dog Kiara and three ferrets, and firefighters managed to save a parrot and some hamsters.
Manseau said two adults and a baby lived in the house where the fire began. Manseau had left the windows open in their house so they knew about the fire before her neighbours, where the windows were closed.
“So their house was nearly engulfed before they figured it out. But I didn’t have their phone number — I couldn’t even call them — and I couldn’t ring the bell because everything was on fire. Because it started on the front deck.”
Six firefighting units responded, and got the blaze under control at 6:46 a.m. The fire was put out at 10:28 a.m.
The extent of the damage is still being determined, but aerial video from the Global 1 news helicopter shows the roofs of both homes were burnt through, exposing charred trusses and damage to the house below.
Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said the damage to both homes was extensive and they are not inhabitable.
Manseau is grateful for her dog’s keen senses.
“It makes me a little proud. You hear these stories of animals saving the humans. We were never in real danger this time — but had we been, I know I could have counted on her.”
No one was injured, Edmonton Fire Rescue spokesperson Maya Filipovic said.
Watch below: Firefighters have been busy in Edmonton this spring, called to several house fires just this month. Vinesh Pratap looks at how the numbers compare to previous years.
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