At least three homes appear to have been destroyed by fire early Friday morning in Fort Saskatchewan.
RCMP received a call at around 1 a.m. about multiple house fires in the Boxwood Bend area.
RCMP said that by the time officers arrived, firefighters were already working to put out the fires.
The fire department will be conducting an initial investigation and alert the RCMP if the fires seem suspicious.
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Three houses have been deemed a total loss and a few others had minor damage.
Theresa Annlegall’s son’s house was one of the houses burnt down. She is grateful that everyone got out safe and hopes the community can come together to help get donations for those affected.
“My son’s house was on fire, he lost everything and its (heartbreaking) He lost his car, clothes, everything. It’d be nice if people could donate a car for him and two other people. The two other houses, they lost stuff too — a whole bunch of stuff and it’d be nice if people could get together and donate stuff.”
Rod VanAcker, a resident in the area, said he was sleeping when the fire started and that he is grateful for how quickly the firefighters responded.
“Just thank God the firemen are as efficient as they are because they are the real heroes.”
Fort Saskatchewan fire chief Todd Martens confirmed that there was a group of young teenagers who noticed the fire and tried to get residents to safety.
“Some young teenagers that were sleeping out in the backyard … smelt some smoke and … came down and started knocking on doors to notify residents to get out. That’s pretty awesome.”
Martens also confirmed that Strathcona County sent out one of their firetrucks to assist with putting out the blaze.
“I just want to say that the guys did an excellent job of knocking the fire down. (We) couldn’t have done it without Strathcona’s help, so (we) appreciate that.”
There are no reported injuries and no update to the cause of the fire.
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