A short in a kitchen stove has been determined as the cause of a fatal house fire in Fairview Friday afternoon.
According to the North Battleford Fire Department, the Office of the Fire Commissioner has made that determination after investigating the scene of the blaze that claimed the life of a 36-year-old woman.
Officials say the exact cause of the woman's death will be determined by autopsy, but she and a three-year-old were transported from the scene of the fire by ambulance. The three-year-old child is in critical condition in Royal University Hospital.
When fire crews arrived at 2402 - 100th Street Friday at just before 4 p.m. a four-year-old had already exited the house. He is listed in stable condition.
City Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Steinborn said the initial call came in to the fire department around 3:46 pm Friday afternoon.
When they arrived on scene " we noticed smoke coming from the front door and the rear of the structure" he said.
Battlefords RCMP had already arrived and "indicated there were still people inside," said Steinborn.
Firefighters quickly did an "aggressive interior attack" on the fire, and commenced a search of the building. The crews located the adult female in the hallway leading to the bedrooms.
After she was brought outside and given to the care of WPD Ambulance and the RCMP, they returned inside to continue their search and found the three-year-old in the far bedroom. Both victims were transported to Battlefords Union Hospital by ambulance.
No names of the victims have been released.
Emergency crews were busy fighting the blaze until around 6 p.m. The main damage to the building was to the kitchen area, reported Steinborn. There was also damage to part of the hallway, and heat damage to the rest of the building.
The last fire fatality in North Battleford was approximately eight years ago.
After the fire, NBFD brought in a doctor from mental health for a stress debriefing with staff.
"The best way to release any stress is talking about it," said Steinborn. "Nobody likes to see the loss of life."
The cause and the origin of the blaze are now determined, said Steinborn, with the rest of the file handed over to the RCMP. The RCMP were awaiting the autopsy report as of Monday; that autopsy was conducted Saturday afternoon.
Steinborn thanked the efforts of all emergency crews on the scene that day. Despite the loss of life Steinborn noted emergency crews had responded to the situation quickly.
"We're just very fortunate we had such a good response from the RCMP, the fire department and the ambulance, that we were able to get there. From the first time we arrived on the scene we were able to get the first victim out in six minutes and then the child out a minute after that. So it was a very fast rescue and a very fast control of the fire."
