An early morning blaze destroyed a number of townhomes in Fireside on Wednesday and left some residents homeless. Cochrane Fire Services Chief David Humphrey told the Eagle the call came in at 2:18 a.m. It’s not yet known what caused the blaze. “It will be days and days before we determine the cause,” Humphrey said. In total, there were 12 single-family dwellings damaged, two multi-family buildings still under construction that were destroyed, one multi-family building next to it suffering extensive damage and one multi family building to the east of the destroyed buildings that has exterior damage. As well, there was one work trailer damaged, nine vehicles and one fork lift damaged. Most of the vehicles will be write-offs. Humphrey said it took two hours for fire crews to get control of the fire while the rest of the day was spent hotspotting and moisturizing the site. Tenéa Kormish, a resident in the apartment building complex across from the blaze, described the moment she woke up and realized something was wrong. “I sleep with my sliding door open in my bedroom and I woke up to an explosion,” Kormish said. “I thought that my building was on fire because of the reflection.” “At that point, no one was awake. There was I think one fire truck and one cop walking across the complex going to bang on doors. So I started to bang on doors as well.” She managed to collect her dog and a few items before heading to her car and waiting nearby. Kormish said she was grateful that her daughter happened to be away visiting family in B.C. Chris Will’s building is next to the showsuites. His building has some melted siding but otherwise appears to be intact. “Surreal, scary as hell,” Will said. “I woke up to the sound with what I thought was rain because I had my balcony door open. Looked across my balcony, across the complex, there was a gentleman standing on his deck already on the phone to 911. I looked to the sky and it was kind of a bright orange ball.” “As soon as I realized what was going on, you know just in a daze, I ran outside and started knocking on doors just to get people out,” Will said. Will said his parents came in from Calgary to support him while he waited outside the complex until he was allowed to return home. “You grab what’s important and get out of the house ... grab your passports, check on the neighbours and call 911,” said Eric Buckley, who lives across the street from the blaze and woke up to the explosive noise around 2 a.m.The lifelong Cochranite said the exterior of his home was not affected by the blaze, but gestured to the row of neighbours south of him along Fireside Boulevard - broken windows, melted siding and debris. Cars parked along the street near the fire appear to have had their tires melt and also caught fire. No injuries or deaths have been reported at this time. RCMP are working with Cochrane Fire Services in the investigation are is asking public to come forward. Anyone who observed any suspicious activity in the Fireside subdivision over night are asked to please contact the Cochrane RCMP at 403-851-8000. There were at least two occupied homes affected. One was home to a family of three and another a home to a 78-year-old woman. The Fireside Community Centre is currently seeking donations of gift cards and clothing for the following ages and sizes: • Women size medium and pant size 10 • Woman, who is currently five months pregnant and wears size Medium and is short; man, medium build, and 14- year-old boy. — With files from Lindsay Seewalt
