A trailer that was engulfed in flames on Harrison Hot Springs Road is now little more than a pile of charred rubble.

Monday (Jan. 28) just before 7 p.m. the Agassiz Fire Department was called out to a structure fire on Harrison Hot Springs Road, just south of Golf Road. Twenty firefighters from the department went out, as did around 10 from the Harrison fire hall and three from Popkum.

Residents began posting on Facebook about the fire around the same time, saying it had broke out at a trailer on a property near the proposed quarry on Harrison Hot Springs Road.

Many locals posted videos of the fire to Facebook, showing extensive flames lighting up the surrounding area.

When the fire department arrived, the mobile home was fully engulfed in flames. Firefighters managed to bring control the fire in about half an hour, but remained on scene for about an hour an a half more to overhaul the building.

“Being a mobile home with additions attached to it, it provides for difficult firefighting,” fire chief Gerald Basten said. “The tin-clad roofing and siding fall in on top of the fire and make it difficult to access.

“It’s very labour intensive to overhaul tin buildings, anything with tin siding or roofing. It’s very much like a barn fire.”

Although the trailer was not hooked up to services, it had been used as a residence. One of the occupants was there when the building caught on fire, but escaped safely. The other was not on site when the fire broke out.

Harrison Hot Springs Road was closed while firefighters battled the flames, for firefighter safety and also to allow for water transportation to the site, as the area doesn’t have any fire hydrants. The road re-opened around 9:30 p.m. when the department left.

The fire was deemed not suspicious, Basten said, and although the department returned to investigate the cause of the fire, the damage was too severe to pinpoint an exact cause. It’s possible faulty extension cords could be to blame, but there’s no way to know for sure, Basten said.

Agassiz Observer