One local resident is displaced after a house fire burned his residence to the ground on Feb. 6.
The Fort St. James Volunteer Fire Department was called by residents of Nak’azdli to a report of a fire across the lake on Kring Road around 5 a.m..
The homeowner, Chris Elliot, was at work when the fire took place, and fire-fighters arrived to a fully involved structure fire.
There were 13 firefighters on the scene for about four hours, with two fire engines, one rescue truck and one water tender.
At 10 a.m., two firefighters were still cooling down some hot spots and a water tender was still bringing water. In the freezing temperatures, firefighters were dealing with ice while watering down the still-smoking remains of the house.
Elliot is being put up through the provincial Emergency Social Services program, providing him with three days of food, shelter and clothing.
Elliot did not have insurance.
The cause of the fire is undetermined but still under investigation, there was no gas to the house and no space heaters, which Fire Chief Mike Navratil said are the most common cause of house fires at these temperatures.
The house fire was ending a busy week of calls for the fire department.
On Feb. 4, firefighters were called out at 5:30 a.m. to a house in the Sowchea area.
Residents had an alarm going off in their home and could not find the source of the problem and called firefighters to ensure there was no carbon monoxide or other dangers in the house.
Jan. 31 firefighters were called to a chimney fire, which firefighters were able to contain.
