Another home is in ruins after a blaze tore through it in the early hours Sunday morning.
Shortly after 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 2, occupants of a home in the Westridge neighbourhood of Okotoks were roused and alerted to the fire by RCMP members banging on their door, said the resident, who declined to be named.
While there was no sign of fire in the house at the time, they added, the roof was ablaze when they got to safety.
Firefighters arrived shortly after to find the home fully engulfed, said Deputy Chief Colin Sager of the Okotoks Fire Dept.
"Initial crews pulled up on scene and confirmed a fully involved structure fire on the Charlie side (back of the house)," Sager said. "We made an aggressive attack to knock down some of the flames along with protecting exposures.
"Second crew arrived and assisted them and we were able to get a good knock on the fire and limited it to the main occupancy."
The call had initially come in from the police officers, who were doing regular patrols when they spotted the flames.
"RCMP was instrumental because they arrived on scene first and helped wake up the occupants," Sager said.
Everyone in the home, three humans, three cats, and three chickens all got out safely, and they are thankful for the quick work by RCMP.
In a subsequent phone call with the residents, they indicated they had started a GoFundMe, but refunded any donations and took it down, and that no other GoFundMe is currently associated with them; they are only asking for thoughts and prayers for the time being. They also gave thanks to PetSmart staff that covered the cost of essentials for their cats, and of Ricky's Grill in Okotoks, where staff pooled their tips to buy the family a meal.
"It's going to be a good Thanksgiving, because we all got out of there," the resident said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
