A crew of Elk Point firefighters was wrapping up an attack on a grass fire at Frog Lake First Nations when another call came in at 4:46 p.m. Friday, according to firefighter Jonny Nielsen.
Fortunately, he said, the rest of the firefighters were just getting off work and immediately headed for the fire station to grab their gear and head to a large structure fire in the town of Elk Point.
The fire would ultimately destroy a row of eight townhouses.
Fire Chief Lyle Frisby was several provinces away when he got the call, and knowing that a fire involving multiple dwellings could be too much for the Elk Point crew to handle alone, he promptly summoned help from St. Paul.
St. Paul Fire Chief Trevor Kotowich confirmed that the St. Paul detachment responded to the blaze, sending two trucks and 10 firefighters to help with the firefighting efforts.
An ATCO Electric worker was only a few blocks away at a business in the industrial park when he got the call to cut off power to the structure, and told Nielsen that in less than 10 minutes, three units were involved.
“It was the hottest fire I’ve ever seen,” Nielsen said, praising the Town of Elk Point for their recent installation of new pumps at the former Water Treatment Plant. “We were hooked to two hydrants and sucking around 4,000 gallons a minute to knock the fire down, and we really put them to the test.”
The Elk Point department’s rapid attack unit was also a huge help, he noted, and was instrumental in putting out a grass fire that raced north from the blazing structure, almost to the underground water reservoir, before it could spread to neighboring fields.
Extinguishing the fire was a lengthy process, with 17 local firefighters and the reinforcements from St. Paul, who he said did an awesome job, “just go, go, go.”
Elk Point’s fire trucks didn’t head back to the fire hall until after 11 p.m., Friday night.
Local resident Sherida Germain says she was on scene about 10 minutes after the fire started, and described it as being “very devastating to see.”
“We got there about 10 minutes after the fire started, it was hectic and lots of panic. We were knocking on doors and trying to break into some of the places to make sure everyone had gotten out and to look for pets.”
The Cornerstone Co-op in Elk Point is accepting monetary and food donations to assist the families in need, and a GoFundMe page has been set up to help people who lost their homes to the fire. Over $2,600 had been raised by Monday morning.
No injuries were reported, but a cat was lost in the fire.
