In the early Sunday morning hours, a fire swept through a Leduc neighborhood, displacing three families and causing widespread damage. An RCMP officer, while on patrol, noticed flames engulfing a construction site located at the corner of 48th Avenue and 50th Street around 1 a.m.
Risking his life, the officer immediately sprung into action, canvassing the area door-to-door to alert neighbors of the approaching crisis, leading to the swift evacuation of several residences.
Residents recalled the terrifying moments in their haunting testimonies. Brayden Mourits, a local dweller, expressed his fright. “We heard a really big bang and shortly afterward, my mother woke us up. Emerging from our home, we saw two structures ablaze – a house and a duplex. It was insane. I was gripped by fear, the thought of another impending explosion was unsettling,” Mourits shared.
The fire, it emerged, had its origins in a residential construction site, and from there, chaos ensued. A power pole in a nearby back alley fell victim to the blistering heat, succumbing to the flames, thereby causing a disruption in electricity supply to several adjacent dwellings. Restoration efforts for the power services were still underway into the late Sunday afternoon.
Among the structures severely impacted by this unfortunate incident, four homes encountered varying degrees of damage or outright destruction. One of these desolated residences belonged to Gavin Dhaliwal. In the wake of the catastrophe, he, along with his family, managed to salvage an minimal amount of their belongings from the ruins of their home. “Everything is destroyed. Nothing withstood the wrath of the fire,” Dhaliwal lamented. “We gathered what was retrievable, grabbed our cat, and evacuated immediately.”
A duplex in the neighbourhood was not spared either and was ruthlessly ravaged by the flames. Consequently, three families have been rendered homeless and are now compelled to seek alternative accommodations until further notice.
Deputy Chief Scott MacDonald of Leduc Fire Services disclosed that the source of the inferno, the under-construction building, was merely a frame without any siding at the time. “In such states, those structures tend to become highly combustible and release copious amounts of embers. The gusty winds prevailing last night further fanned the flames,” explained MacDonald.
Fire investigators are collaborating with the RCMP to unearth the cause of this horrifying incident. MacDonald warned that this pursuit of answers would be a painstaking process that would require meticulous inspection of the site, especially the commercial building where the fire first broke out.
Local residents revealed to local media that the incinerated building was slated to become a daycare. However, MacDonald clarified that it is too premature to label the incident as suspicious. Investigation into the incident continues.
