SASKATOON — Smoke alarms and the assistance provided by the Saskatoon Police Service had all residents of a condominium fire in the 300 block of Kingsmere Boulevard evacuated.
All occupants were alerted of the fire in one of the units by their smoke alarms and the fire alarms were ringing when the first crews from the Saskatoon Fire Department arrived.
The fire crews and SPS continued with the evacuation as it was not yet complete and both departments made sure everyone was out of the building.
Some of the occupants tried to extinguish the fire but it was too large for an extinguisher to control. An occupant called 911 and dispatch advised them to evacuate the premises.
The call was received at 10:57 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 22, with the fire in a suite on the third floor of the multi-residential structure.
Four fire engines, a ladder truck, a rescue unit and the Battalion Chief were dispatched with the first arriving crews reporting smoke showing from a unit’s third-floor window.
No injuries to firefighters or residents occurred as a result of this fire. One dog was rescued but two cats did not survive. Occupants who were displaced are safely re-housed.
The fire investigator conducted a cause and origin examination of the scene, concluding that the fire originated in the bathroom and then spread into the remainder of the unit.
No determination of the fire has been established yet and the two units involved in the fire were deemed uninhabitable. The damage is estimated at $325,000.