The Humboldt Fire Department responded to a call at 12:38 am on Thursday, June 1 reporting a fire at 607 10th Street. On arrival, firefighters saw flames emerging from a fourth story balcony of the Parkland Condominiums structure. The flames extended into the roof.
“Once crews arrived, we were able to put up the aerial apparatus and knocked down the fire relatively quickly,” said Protective Services Director Mike Kwasnica. “The fire did extend to the roof, but thankful to the building construction and fire separation, it stopped the spread of fire coming across the roof. We were able to keep it, more or less, to the top floor and the west side of the building.”
Everyone was safely evacuated out of the building and no injuries were reported. Kwasnica reported that displaced residents have been registered with the Red Cross, and efforts are under way to relocate residents given that the building will not be habitable for months.
“We managed to talk to everyone in the building, and we had EMS on site,” Kwasnica says. “They made sure that everybody was doing good. We did a floor-to-floor sweep of every apartment to make sure we didn’t miss anybody.”
Humboldt Fire Department units returned several hours after the fire had been extinguished to deal with a hot spot.
Crews returned to the building to retrieve medications and some personal items for residents. Humboldt RCMP was on-site for support and control, and Partners Family Services was on-hand to register residents with Red Cross services.
Investigation into the cause of the blaze is ongoing. To support the investigation, anyone with pictures or video is welcome to submit them via email to the Humboldt Fire Department at HFD@humboldt.ca.
Gallery photos courtesy of Sheena Gerspacher and Rob Muench.