A fire in the west end of Sylvan Lake burned three houses to the ground and badly damaged a fourth on Tuesday.
The blaze started at about 5:00 in the afternoon. By the time fire crews arrived on scene the fire had spread to several houses on the block.
"When we pulled up on the scene we had three fully involved single family dwellings, with flames infringing on the fourth structure." Sylvan Lake Fire Chief Cliff Brausen told Global News.
The heat from the flames was so intense that siding on houses across the street began to melt. A total of eight houses nearby suffered siding damage during the fire.
Thirty volunteer firefighters from Sylvan Lake battled the blaze, and a crew from Red Deer was also called in.
Willard Morris owns one of the houses destroyed in the fire. His daughter Patti and her two children live in the home. The events that unfolded on Tuesday night were a father’s worst nightmare.
"I was mowing my lawn across the lake where I live, and my wife was screaming Patti’s house was on fire, so we dropped everything came down to find out everything is gone."
An investigation is underway to determine what caused the fire, but some neighbours believe barbeque propane tanks may have caused the blaze to spread so fast.
"The barbeque tank blew up on the back deck," neighbour Amy Thorson said "Gas was shooting out of the house next to it so flames were shooting out the side. It just went up really, really fast."
Despite the fact that the damage was so wide-spread, residents are just grateful that no one was injured.
The Canadian Red Cross has stepped in to provide shelter, food and clothing to one family of two adults and two children, and one individual affected by the blaze.
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