The Airdrie Fire Department (AFD) quickly responded to a report of a fire in the Bayside community in the early hours of Jan. 29 – and prevented a situation that could have easily spread, according to Deputy Fire Chief Garth Rabel.
Jerry Kalmakoff, a Bayside resident, said he was woken up by a knock at his door at approximately 2:30 a.m.
“I saw the first house on fire,” he said. “I ran back inside, got my shoes, and the first house was further engulfed.”
According to Kalmakoff, the fire quickly spread to a second unoccupied single family home.
The AFD arrived and initiated a “defensive” fire attack – meaning crews stayed on the exterior of the homes, applying water through hoses.
“The two homes were lost. We went defensive – we’re not putting our people inside,” Rabel said. “Conditions had got to the point where it wasn’t a safe working point inside.”
A third home was threatened by the fire, but firefighters were able to limit the spread by utilizing water and firefighting foam. All three homes were under construction and uninhabited.
Kalmakoff said the stucco covering on the third home also prevented the fire from spreading further.
“It was a litmus test for stucco. Had that third house not been stucco, (it could) have been lost,” he said. “If the third house was lost, I would have evacuated. Even though there is an empty lot, it wouldn’t have taken long for the fourth house to go.”
Five pieces of firefighting apparatus and 14 firefighters attended the incident, according to Rabel. The area has now been fenced off and an investigation to determine the cause of the incident is ongoing.
“Two residents of the area, a quiet cul-de-sac, they were very helpful, as well as some security video and photos prior to the arrival of our crews,” Rabel said. “There’s more information to come.
“The builders and the insurance companies, they’ll now work through whatever needs to be done to get those homes up and running again.”
