A family of three was able to escape an early morning blaze that destroyed their home in the Morrisroe neighbourhood of the city. The fire started while they were sleeping.
Investigators say they’re thankful those living in the home on MacFarlane Avenue walked away uninjured.
“We had three occupants in the structure during the fire, they all evacuated safely,” said Lead Fire Investigator with Red Deer Emergency Services Brad Legere.
CTV spoke to a family member, who didn’t want to be named or appear on camera. He says he and his wife woke up to the sound of crackling and popping around 3:30 a.m., that’s when they realized their garage was on fire.
The father and mother were able to get their 18-year-old son and family dog out of the house safely, but unfortunately their cat is still unaccounted for.
Legere said he’s thankful the family woke up. “We had no detection of any alarms in that detached garage so only the sound the family heard with the popping of the fire, and that was already increasing into their dwelling unit at that time.”
Legere says their crew is trying to determine how the fire started, and just how much damage it caused.
He said the garage was completely gutted, and believe the home is also a total loss. “It looks like it started from the detached garage and went onto the back of the rear structure, we have a fully enclosed deck where it looks like heat transferred into the roof and down into the house.”
Legere says homeowners should consider adding smoke detectors into their detached garages, as an added safety measure, should something like this happen.
As for the family, they say they’re insured and already have plans to rebuild.
