battFire crews responded to a house fire in North Battleford Monday morning in which the residence was significantly damaged.
The fire was in a two-story house on 101 Street, off of 15th Avenue and crews from the North Battleford Fire Department took around 90 minutes to put it out. Deputy fire chief Colin O’Hara said they believe the fire was intentionally set, with a window broken to allow the fire to go on through the inside.
“We believe it was on the backside of the exterior, then it bled into the main floor area,” he said.
Everyone was safe, as no occupants were in the home at the time of ignition. The damage is significant enough that O’Hara said the house would be coming down, as the construction is a balloon style, meaning there’s no steel plates between the floors.
“So, when that burns, it burns inside the walls,” he said. “There’s no structural integrity left on the south and west corner of that building.”
O’Hara said there’s not much left for the investigation process, with the RCMP having the information they need. He added that that people need to stay away from the property, as there was heavy foot traffic throughout the day.
“We do have our special constables sitting on the house, under security, so we do ask that people stay away.”
—
josh.ryan@pattisonmedia.com
On Twitter: @JoshRyanSports
