SUNDRE — No one was hurt and no surrounding structures were damaged when an electric heater ignited a fire inside a backyard greenhouse in the northwest of town today.
The Sundre Fire Department received the call for assistance at 9:40 a.m. on Tuesday, April 26.
“It was actually called in by one of the neighbours who seen it, and then he notified the homeowner,” said Sundre Fire Department Chief Ross Clews, adding that the owner was in the house at the time but had not yet realized the greenhouse was on fire.
“We rolled with three of our units,” said Clews. “(The fire) burned through the glass roof when we arrived on scene.”
Although the greenhouse and its contents was completely gutted by the blaze, the fire did not spread out any farther and none of the surrounding buildings or property were damaged, he said, adding nobody was hurt.
“Our primary pumper arrived on scene and extinguished the fire,” he said, adding the entire response time from start to finish took less than an hour before the crew was back at the hall and ready for service.
“The fire was extinguished with minimal water,” he said.
Surveying the scene’s aftermath, the chief concluded the space heater started the fire.
“An electric heater was the only thing that was a source of ignition in there,” he said. “It ignited the combustibles in the greenhouse.”
With the late, cool start to the spring, people who are keen to get their gardens started indoors are reminded to use caution when turning on heaters to protect their plants from the cold.
“Any electric heaters or anything like that, always check the condition of the heaters and make sure that they are not placed by any combustible materials,” said Clews.
