On Wednesday, April 8 the village of Manor was the scene of a three alarm fire.
The fire started in the garage of a mobile home owned by Tracey Nelson and located on the southwest corner of the village. The home was being rented by Shane Hirtle and Kendra Selby.
The fire posed a difficult task to the fire crews as they were contending with a 40 km west wind, with gusts up to 70 km per hour. The occupants were in the home and called in the alarm at 11:27 a.m. The Manor Fire Department was on scene shortly thereafter.
Containing the blaze proved to be very difficult and the Carlyle Fire Department was called almost immediately for backup, arriving on scene by 11:55 a.m.
The strong winds sent embers flying towards another home three lots east, resulting in a call to the Redvers Fire Department for additional backup.
The Manor Fire Department battled the original fire, while the Carlyle and Redvers Departments fought at the second location.
The heat from the original fire also caused damage to the home to the north, melting the siding. Firefighters were able to limit the damage to its exterior.
The second location also proved to be very serious with the fire starting in the attic of that home. The embers likely entered the structure through the whirlybird roof vent. June Ariss, one of the occupants and who was home at the time, left the house to assess the situation that was unfolding down the street, was unaware that her place was also burning, as the heavy smoke seemed to appear to be coming from next door. She was soon approached by RCMP and asked to take the neighbour’s children dog and clear the area. It wasn’t until her husband, Darrell arrived, that they realized their home was also on fire.
The scene of the fire was attended to by 10 rescue units, over 30 firefighters, as well as members of the Carlyle RCMP and Supreme Ambulance personnel. No injuries or loss of life occurred, however both homes are likely a total loss.
There will be an investigation to determine the exact cause of each of the fires and other homes in the area will be assessed for damages.
Manor Deputy Fire Chief Brayden Rowley had this to say, “We can’t stress enough how thankful we are that we are surrounded by other great fire departments like Carlyle and Redvers. If we didn’t have them on Wednesday, I can easily say the outcome would have been much worse”.
Deputy Carlyle Fire Chief Travis Van Meer added, “I am really impressed how all the personnel handled it, keeping everyone safe and the way they all did their job. All the departments carry similar equipment, using same radios, training together really helped in this situation”.
Manor Fire Dept. and Carlyle Fire Dept. had been training together for approximately six months, all on their own time and as volunteers.
Redvers Fire department was back in service at 4 p.m, Carlyle was in service at 5:29 p.m. and Manor at 5 p.m.
Darrell and June Ariss want all involved to know they are overwhelmed by the support and what an unbelievable job everyone did. Firefighters were able to save some of the Ariss’ belongings, including an antique table that had been in the family for generations.
The Ariss’, as well as Hirtle and Selby will be staying with family in the area.
