Residents return home following Fort Saskatchewan fire

One of the families affected by the fire in Fort Saskatchewan Friday had been hoping to move into their new home in March.

Residents have returned to their homes after a fire at a Fort Saskatchewan duplex complex.

Officials said that four units had been evacuated and a total of six were destroyed in the fire that began at West Park Drive and Woodbridge Link around 5:30 p.m. Friday.

“We were able to save some surrounding structures. The duplexes that we lost were under construction,” Deputy fire chief Bill Heesing told CTV News.

Heesing said the City had been talking care of those removed from their homes.

“No need for Red Cross at this time. We have worked with our local disaster service agency with the City and we were able to relocate some of the people that were involved.

“They were put up at hotels and some local arrangements were made for them.”

For those who had been hoping to move in to their new homes the news has been devastating.

“It is so upsetting. It’s so sad because we were moving in a month and we are stuck again,” Ruby Nuvey said through tears.

The mother of two said she and her husband had moved to the area from Ontario and had been looking forward to their new house.

“We waited for seven or eight months for this.

“We are hoping that they give us something for the best, like find us a house that we can move as soon as possible.”

Two blocks away from the blaze, Trish Delisle said she was at home when she heard a loud bang.

“I thought what is that? That does sound normal at all. Within not even a minute I heard the sirens. I lifted up my blind and saw the huge ball of fire up over the neighbouring houses, over the roof.

“I just saw huge, huge flames and black smoke pouring over the rooftops.”

Delisle also said the neighbourhood was without power for a couple of hours following the incident.

According to Heesing five fire units from Fort Saskatchewan as well as two units from Strathcona Emergency Services helped battle the fire. They stayed on the scene until 3:30 a.m. Saturday and returned to help fire investigators at 9 a.m.

He said a third duplex could also be declared a loss because of the damage.

“Depending on what the builders decide to do with that it could be a complete loss also.

“They would need to check for structural damage.”

According to Fort Saskatchewan Mayor Gale Katchur there was some good news.

“The good news is everybody was safe. The bad news is we lost six duplex units last night.”

There have been no injuries reported and the scene is still under investigation.

Officials have not yet determined a damage estimate.