PENHOLD - A faulty bathroom exhaust fan is being cited as the probable cause for a house fire that forced the evacuation of a family of six and caused $20,000 damage to the home.
Shortly after 6 p.m. on March 11 Penhold firefighters were called to a structure fire on Dundee Crescent.
On arrival, firefighters witnessed smoke coming from the main floor of the house and immediately initiated an aggressive interior attack.
"We found the seat of the fire in the main floor bathroom that had spread into the attic and through the roof,” said Carter Carson, the acting fire lieutenant of the Penhold Fire Department. “The quick actions of the first arriving engine crew achieved a very quick knock-down."
He said the attic's insulation was cellulose so there was a "lot of overhaul to do" to remove it.
Jim Pendergast, the department's fire chief, said there were four children and two adults in the house at the time when the blaze was first noticed. He said one of the children heard a "strange noise" and saw the fire in the bathroom. He told his father who immediately called 911 and evacuated everyone from the house, said Pendergast.
“The best chance of surviving a fire is to have working smoke alarms," said Pendergast. "The Alberta Building Code and the Alberta Fire Code require all dwelling units to have working smoke alarms.
"This could have had a very different and tragic outcome," he added.
Pendergast said there were no injuries. He confirmed the cause of the fire is believed to be an exhaust fan in the bathroom, with damage to the house estimated to be $20,000.
He said seven fire department units and 27 firefighters, along with local public works staff, RCMP, Fortis and ATCO Gas responded to the blaze.
