High winds reeked havoc across most of Saskatchewan on Oct. 17-18, and Humboldt was no different, as an apartment building on the 600 block of 7th St. had its roof blown off.
The Humboldt Fire Department answered a call to the apartment building at 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 18, which saw the roof blown off, causing a power line and gas meter to be taken out.
With the gas meter being taken out, there was a gas leak, but both SaskPower and SaskEnergy shut off their respective utilities, with neither having been restored as of the morning of Oct. 19.
The Fire department was on scene for just over two hours, where they helped re-locate residents, evacuate the building and secure the area.
“We just secured the back area to protect anybody from being hit from anything that was still coming off and secure the scene,” noted Deputy Fire Chief Darrell Wickenhauser.
According to Wickenhauser winds were gusting up to 68 km/h around the time of the call, with Environment Canada noting winds hit a maximum speed of 75 km/h twice, once at 1:14 a.m. and another time at 2:41 a.m.
The damages to the roof resulted in the relocation of residents from all 12 apartment suites, some with other family members, and others to hotels.
Wickenhauser, notes he is not sure how long those residents will be displaced from their homes.
“The insurance company already has a contractor out assessing and working on a time frame.”
Fortunately for everyone involved, there were no injuries recorded.
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