A weekend fire offered both darkness and frigidity to responding firefighters.
The house fire happened in the 200-block of Gardner Street near the intersection of Johnston Avenue on Saturday night (Jan. 13) just after 11 o’clock. It was between minus-20 and minus-30 degrees Celsius during the firefighting effort.
The home was lived in but no occupants were inside at the time. Although there were other houses in the adjacent area, and trees close to the blaze, crews were able to surround the house via both the front street and the rear alley.
One witness said a plume of flame vented from the house at one point, and a special concentration of high-pressure water was needed to knock it down.
There is no word, as of press time, what caused the fire, the extent of the damage, or what Quesnel Fire Department resources were used to battle the blaze.
It was the second time in three days that a Quesnel-area home suffered major fire damage. The previous incident happened on Higdon Road on Jan. 10 and caused the total loss of that home. (See Page 3 for more.)
West Fraser Volunteer Fire Department was the lead responder to that scene, with mutual aid support of Quesnel Fire Department.