RM OF MOOSE RANGE — The cause of a structure fire north west of Carrot River is believed to be a cooking accident.
“The homeowner was at home, they were making dinner, fries. [They] stepped away for a couple seconds and when they came back the kitchen was on fire,” said Bryce Lytle, Carrot River’s fire chief.
“They got out of the house, a passerby driving down the highway saw the fire and pulled into the yard, found the homeowner out in the yard saying everybody was out of the house, safe and he called 911.”
Carrot River Fire and Rescue responded to the May 14 fire at 8:27 p.m.
Lyttle said that by the time the department arrived, just 13 minutes after the initial call was received, about 80 per cent of the house was involved in the fire.
“The roof had already collapsed over top of the kitchen,” he said.
“The whole structure was a loss.”
Upon assessing the scene, they noticed a large propane tank beside the house. At this point they established that the team would be unable to save the house, and started focusing efforts on preventing the fire from reaching the propane and nearby buildings, which included multiple sheds and a garage.
“We saved the propane tank, as well as none of the other structures were affected, just a little heat damage on the garage, on the siding, but that’s it.”
