Family escapes uninjured from north Edmonton house fire
Freezing temperatures hampered efforts to bring an early morning house fire in north Edmonton under control.
Firefighters were called to the house fire around 2 a.m. near 122nd Avenue and 57th Street in the Newton neighbourhood.
When emergency crews arrived on scene, flames were shooting from the roof, said acting district fire chief Bob Bend.
Three adults and a child were inside the home at the time. They escaped without injury.
It took more than 6 1/2 hours to get the blaze under control.
"We've been dealing with quite a stubborn house fire," said Bend. "The house has had numerous renovations to it so [there are] lots of voids and hidden areas that made it difficult to access all the fire."
Firefighters were forced to rip apart the walls with axes and a chainsaw in an attempt to extinguish the flames.
The cold weather also hampered efforts to put out the fire. "We had problems with frozen hydrants in the area so that slowed initial operations down," Bend said. The temperature had dropped to -16 C early Monday morning.
"Soon as we started spraying water, then everything is slippery, [it] makes moving more challenging," he said. "Once firefighters get wet there's only so long we want to keep them out there."
More than 25 firefighters were called in to assist, so crews could be rotated through, he added.
Fire crews were running their hoses non-stop to ensure they didn't freeze in the cold temperatures. The front yard and the street were covered in a thick sheet of ice.
The people who lived in the home told fire investigators they had a fire in their fireplace last night, but officials on scene said it's too early to determine if that contributed to the blaze.
Properties on either side of the home were not damaged by the fire.
