On Feb. 4th, shortly after 8 p.m., Penhold Fire Crews responded to a trailer fire in the Penhold Estates trailer court.

“There was a large column of smoke visible from several kilometers away and when we arrived on scene there were flames coming from the west window,” said Penhold Fire Chief Jim Pendergast. “The trailer has been unoccupied for several months but there were squatters staying inside and they reported to us that one person was still missing and there were propane tanks inside.”

Pendergast went onto say there is no hydrant in the trailer park so we used our tender for water supply and requested mutual aid from Innisfail Fire Department for an engine and tender.

He added crews had Innisfail hook up to the nearest hydrant and extend the supply hose about 500m to the engine. When crews tried to enter they found the floor had burned through and crews attacked the fire from outside until we could cut a hole through the wall and gain entry so search for anybody trapped and extinguish the fire.

He went on to say the cold weather and wind along with extremely icy conditions created some challenges with footing and the breathing apparatus’. Two firefighters were injured and treated at the scene and released. There were no civilian injuries.

The occupants of the units on both sides of the unit on fire were evacuated for about two hours and then were allowed to return to their homes after Penhold Fire Crews checked to make sure the smoke and CO and hydrogen cyanide(HCN) levels were acceptable.

There is no estimate of damage although the unit was more than 40-years-old and will be torn down and removed.

The cause is under investigation but is considered suspicious. Six units and 24 fire fighters from Penhold responded along with Innisfail Fire EMS and RCMP.

– Fawcett