ESTEVAN — Sirens were heard in the Estevan area twice Sunday evening, as local firefighters responded to two structure fires.
The first call for service came in at about 6 p.m. Crews were dispatched to a garage fire occurring south of the city. Fire Chief Rick Davies said there were no injuries, but there was significant damage to the building.
"Crews were able to keep any fire damage to just that garage; it didn't spread to any other buildings," Davies added.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Davies noted that it doesn't appear to be anything of neglect or criminal in nature. Crews dedicated about three hours to that call.
Shortly afterwards, firefighters responded to another structure fire occurring in Hitchcock.
"Once we arrived, there was heavy smoke in the area. It was determined to be a chimney fire. So extensive work was done to salvage and gain access to put that fire out. There was obviously significant damage to the chimney and the fireplace area. Crews were able to contain that, but there was smoke and water damage to the house itself," Davies said.
Nobody was injured as a result of the fire. The cause of this fire is also under investigation. Davies noted that the fire had started to burn into the rafters of the ceiling as it was able to break through the chimney flue and it was starting to burn the roof, but crews were able to contain it to that area without it spreading throughout the house. Firefighters spent about 3 1/2 hours responding to this call.
Earlier last week fire crews also responded to a gas leak. The call for service came in on Friday at about 10 p.m. The gas leak was occurring in a residence in northeast Estevan. Davies said that upon talking to the homeowners it was found they were doing some work to a gas-fired appliance, which had caused the leak.
SaskEnergy was also called to the scene, as was Estevan EMS, which assessed the homeowner to ensure he was fine. Firefighters ensured the leak was stopped and the house was ventilated from any gas remaining. Crews were on scene for about an hour.
