THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2016
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Fire guts Logan Road home
By Greg Laychak THE OBSERVER
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Fire crews from Agassiz, Popkum and Harrison Hot Springs were on scene to battle a duplex structure fire on Logan Road late Saturday afternoon. Just across Morrow Road, the Agassiz fire department received the page at 5:50 p.m. and arrived to contain the blaze soon after. “There were three children home at the time,” said Agassiz fire chief Wayne Dyer. “We’re just lucky the fire vented out through the window—all the heat and toxic smoke went out that window.” All residents got out of the building and were checked over by BC Ambulance. No one was sent to the hospital. The fire started in the upper floor bedroom by a failed electrical heater that was too close to bedding. Fire fighters contained the fire to the bedroom where it started, but there was heavy smoke and heat damage to that side of the structure. The other side of the duplex also took smoke damage. A six-foot ball python and two kittens were also saved from the fire by fire crews. In all, 20 Agassiz firefighters were joined by five Popkum and five Harrison members to tackle the flames. Chief Dyer also credits some newly installed gear for the quick containment. A telescoping monitor allowed his team to quickly and remotely stream water through the home’s windows to cool it down before crews went in and “mopped up.”
GREG LAYCHAK/THE OBSERVER
The upper floor of one side of a duplex on Logan Road burned Saturday afternoon, gutting the bedroom and causing smoke and water damage to most of the structure.
Community rallies to help family
By Greg Laychak THE OBSERVER
When Warren Carlson’s children stood outside watching their Logan Road house burn Saturday afternoon, the timing couldn’t have been worse. Carlson’s wife was out grocery shopping and he was out working in his logging truck. That left his daughter babysitting Carlson's two youngest sons. “She did well,” he said about his daughter’s brave actions. “She got everybody out.” The accidental fire that was started by a failed electrical heater was not
the first to consume the Carlsons’ belongings. “About 10 years ago my house burnt down,” he said. “In that one we lost absolutely everything, the whole house.” That was on his mother’s property in Aldergrove, when the family had no insurance. This time they are covered for their duplex unit structure, but not for the content inside. And that’s where the Agassiz community has stepped up to help. “I can’t imagine if those were my kids and they didn’t have anything,”
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said Angela Striker, one of the local residents who is collecting items for the Carlsons and the other two families affected by the blaze. Striker and another local helper have been mobilizing the generosity of people who want to give to support those who are temporarily homeless because of the fire. “Right now we’re looking for much more of the soft items right now,” Striker said. “We’re doing well for clothes, but sheets, blankets pillows towels and things like that are needed.” A growing list on a whiteboard has Continued on 2
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