It was the quick thinking of two town employees that had fire crews at the scene of a fire in downtown Bonnyville that much sooner.
On the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 8, the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA), EMS, and Bonnyville RCMP responded to a fire at the apartment attached to back of the Sun Life Financial office on 50 Ave.
Two town employees had been working when they noticed smoke coming from the building. One of the employees ran inside to escort everyone out safely while the other called 911.
Once crews arrived, they witnessed a town employee guiding a resident from the apartment located at the back of the building. That is where BRFA fire chief Brian McEvoy believes the fire started.
"It takes a lot of courage to enter any structure on fire, but he got that person out, and then he made sure everyone else was out too. That's commendable," McEvoy noted.
The staff at Sun Life Financial watched as their office went up in smoke as emergency responders arrived at the scene.
"We received the call at about 10 a.m., the first units were there probably five-minutes after the call came in," said McEvoy.
Fire crews struggled with fighting the blaze. The age of the building made it difficult to access certain areas where the fire was.
"One of the issues, particularly in older houses of that design, is there are multiple concealed spaces that you can't access," McEvoy explained. "The fire was burning in the concealed spaces in the roof systems."
In order to access these areas, the BRFA allowed for the fire to burn through the roof, exposing the attic.
"We were then able to introduce water to extinguish the fire," McEvoy said.
One person was taken to hospital as a precaution, however an update on their condition was unavailable.
The neighbouring business, Lakeland Variety, was kept out of harms way.
"Lakeland Variety received some light smoke damage and some minor water damage from the water that we sprayed onto the roof to protect the building," said McEvoy.
Throughout the day, the BRFA continued to battle the flames, finally packing up at about 4:30 p.m.
As the investigation continues, the building is off-limits, McEvoy reminded.
"It's unsafe to enter, and it's still a protected scene."
