(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Alessia Proietti

Crews on scene for 12 hours

Fatal house fire in Mirror throughout night

Dec 22, 2022 | 9:15 AM

A house fire turned fatal on Tuesday night in the hamlet of Mirror, located northeast of Red Deer.

On December 20, the Lacombe County Fire Department received a call, believed to be from a neighbouring resident, at around 8:30 p.m. of a house fire on 4924 47 Street.

Fire Chief Drayton Bussiere said by the time crews arrived, the home was fully and structurally involved in the fire, deeming it a total loss. He says six trucks and 14 firefighters were on scene, with the final members leaving at 8:30 a.m. the following day.

Corporal Troy Savinkoff with Alberta RCMP says when firefighters were made aware of a missing person in the home, they were able to locate the individual upon entering. However, he says the person was already deceased. Their identity has not yet been confirmed.

Bussiere says the cause of the fire and its origins are also unknown and are still under investigation.

WHAT'S ON

Here is what's on this weekend in Medicine Hat and area: Dec. 13-15

4h ago

IN THE COMMUNITY

Medicine Hat's Mustard Seed adding new shelter spaces at Alberta government's request

Dec 12, 2024

HOLIDAYS

Medicine Hat Kiwanis hosting Christmas dinner, applications due Friday

Dec 12, 2024

Although, he stated the extremely cold temperatures of -33°C with a wind chill of -40°C throughout the night posed a particular challenge as well as the type of home.

“It was an older home with what we call ‘balloon framed construction’ which basically means that the main walls of the house go right from the ground floor to the roof and that is a difficult type of construction to fight fire in just because there’s lots of void spaces and it’s unique that way,” he said.

Bussiere says the fire was not deemed suspicious and no damage was caused to nearby properties, adding there were no other individuals inside the home.