CANMORE – Two men are in stable condition and recovering in hospital after firefighters and police rescued them from a house fully engulfed in flames in Canmore overnight.
Canmore Fire-Rescue Chief Walter Gahler said firefighters responded to a call of a small explosion and house fire at 2:20 a.m. Thursday morning (Feb. 21) in the 800 block of Larch Place.
"On arrival, we started getting water onto the fire," he said, adding the entire home was on fire when they arrived. "Two patients were noticed in the house and our crews made entry into the home and got the two people out.
"They have been transported to hospital and are in stable condition being assessed at this time."
Victor Koletchko and his 13-year-old daughter Selena had just returned home from an event when they heard the explosion.
"It actually shook the house," said Victor, who lives about 100 metres away from the fire.
"The whole top floor was in flames and a woman was running around and screaming that two people were trapped inside."
When RCMP officers arrived on scene they jumped into action and entered the house with firefighters to help pull the men to safety.
"The courageous actions of RCMP members and Canmore firefighters likely saved the lives of the two males discovered in the residence," wrote RCMP Sgt. Stan Andronyk.
"Canmore Detachment is proud of the swift and decisive actions taken by all emergency responders involved in this incident."
As of 7 a.m. crews were still on scene dealing with hot-spots and couldn't speculate as to the cause of the fire.
"We are just starting the investigation right now and don't have specific details as to the cause," said Gahler.
An adjacent home's roof also caught on fire as a result of the blaze, but Gahler said crews were able to put that out quickly and there was minimal damage.
With 17 crew members on scene overnight, Gahler said Canmore-Fire reached out to its mutual aid partners to assist if they receive any more calls because crews were stretched thin after two major incidents within the last 12 hours.
On Wednesday (Feb. 20), Canmore Fire-Rescue responded with RCMP to multiple crashes, vehicles in the ditch and jack-knifed semis on the Trans-Canada Highway between Dead Man's Flats and Lac Des Arcs.
Poor winter driving conditions and a snowstorm caused the highway to be shut down for several hours as crews cleared vehicles and stuck motorists.
