REGINA — Items lay on the front yard of a house damaged in two separate house fires.
The incidents happened at a home located at the 1400 block of Retallack Street on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. The first was assessed as a basement fire, which was quickly extinguished by Regina Fire. The second fire engulfed the entire home, damaging parts of the houses next door.
Witnesses say it took Regina Fire around 20 minutes to put out the second fire.
Daniel Formanek, who has been patrolling the North Central neighbourhood for years, said he started seeing smoke before the whole house was engulfed in flames.
He said police and fire services told him that a suspect ran into the back of the home before the fire started.
Formanek believes this incident is related to meth groups in the area.
“The meth around here and the drugs around here are starting to get really bad.”
Formanek worries these incidents could lead to people getting seriously hurt.
“Something needs to be done about this; we need some kind of group or people who can come together and help protect people.”
Tristan Lasas, who lives across from the home, also witnessed the fire.
“It was pretty terrifying because I had never seen a house on fire. And [the whole] neighbourhood was panicking.”
Lasas said the fire was big enough to feel its heat in the neighbourhood, and the smoke stayed in the air for hours.
While Lasas can’t see a repeated fire happening like this again, he said fires in North Central are pretty common.
Both Lasas and Formanek were informed by Regina Fire that the house would be bulldozed, but an exact timeframe wasn’t given.
SaskToday reached out to Regina Fire for comments.
Regina Fire said both fires are currently under investigation, and no further details can be provided at this time.
