At approximately 7 a.m. on Dec. 13, 2016, the Burns Lake Fire Department was called to a trailer home fire on Hwy. 16, approximately five kilometres east of Burns Lake.
The three occupants of the house – a couple and their daughter – were able to escape their home with no injuries. However, the fire completely destroyed their home and all their belongings.
Burns Lake’s Home Hardware, where one of the house occupants work, has been accepting donations to support the family.
“They have nothing; everything is gone,” said Kelsey Hansen with the Burns Lake Home Hardware. “They just got out with their pajamas on them.”
The Burns Lake Recycling Depot has also been accepting donations.
Twenty Burns Lake firefighters responded to the trailer home fire, which lasted for about three and a half hours. Fire chief Rob Krause said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The Burns Lake firefighters responded to two other fires that morning.
At approximately 3 a.m., firefighters responded to a pellet stove fire in a Burns Lake home. The fire was contained and, except for the exhaust of the pellet stove, there was no further damage to the home.
At 7:50 a.m. that same morning, firefighters responded to a car fire on First Avenue that destroyed a vehicle. The cause of the fire was a short circuit in the block heater.
“We had to respond to that [car] fire at that same time we had crews on Hwy. 16,” said Krause.
The temperature in Burns Lake that morning was -26 C. Krause said cold temperatures make the work of firefighters much more difficult since hose lines and other equipment tend to freeze.
“Firefighters feel cold and it also doesn’t help with the fire very much,” he added.
Krause said it’s common to see a spike in fires – especially chimney fires – when temperatures deep below -20 C.
“Be cautions during cold weather as we do get more fires from a variety of causes,” he warned residents.
