Two teenagers were rushed to hospital in serious condition Sunday night after a house fire in north Edmonton.
The fire started at around 9:30 p.m. in a four-level split house on 93 Street and 178 Avenue in the Lago Lindo neighbourhood, where the teens were found in their bedrooms.
Edmonton Fire Rescue said the teens had to be removed from the house, after which firefighters began CPR on scene before paramedics arrived.
The teens were taken to hospital in serious condition, suffering from smoke inhalation. A man in the home was also taken to hospital with injuries to his airway and carbon monoxide poisoning. A woman escaped without any injuries.
Mark Williams lives next door and said he was alerted to the fire by his niece, who lives in the next cul-de-sac. He called 911 and ran outside.
“I run next door and the neighbours are at their front door and they’re really upset and the smoke is just piling out of the door and they don’t know where the kids are. They were just screaming, ‘the kids are upstairs!'” he said.
“You couldn’t dare go inside the house because it was just black.”
Williams said a couple, their daughter and two grandchildren were inside the house when the fire broke out.
“They were upset. Their house is on fire but more importantly, their grandchildren were in there and they couldn’t get them out,” he said. “We were just trying to keep them calm and reassuring them.”
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Officials said the fire was caused by over-heated cooking oil, which was left unattended for a few minutes. The kitchen and main floor sustained heavy fire damage, which was not visible from the exterior of the home.
“Within a couple of minutes, the atmosphere will be untenable and that means the oxygen levels are depleted and smoke displaces oxygen and it won’t support life. So you’re in a big problem if you’re unaware and overcome by smoke—you need assistance right away.”
Watch below: A house fire in Edmonton on Sunday sent three people to hospital, two of whom are in critical condition. Sarah Kraus has more on what happened and what’s believed to have caused the fire.
The fire caused about $500,000 in damage to the house and contents.
Edmonton Fire Rescue said cooking fires are one of the leading causes of home fires and injuries. It said in 2016, there were 69 over-heated cooking oil fires, which resulted in 42 civilian and seven firefighter injuries, and six civilian deaths.
“It is a significant issue,” Block said. “Often when we’re cooking we can be somewhat complacent. We get away with leaving cooking unattended from time to time and sadly that kind of becomes a practice and it shouldn’t be.
“You can’t leave cooking unattended, especially cooking oil. Cooking oil—or hydrocarbons—it’s like unburnt fuel and once it breaks into open flame it extends very, very rapidly and grows very rapidly.”
Block emphasized the importance of having working smoke detectors and said another way to prevent injury during a fire is to close bedroom doors at night.
“When you’re sleeping or your family members are in bed sleeping, it’s really important to close the bedroom doors. It does buy time and it’s a barrier to the smoke,” he explained.
How to properly extinguish a cooking oil fire:
- Do not throw water on it
- Do not move pot
- Turn off the heat
- Place a lid or oven tray over the pot
- Use a Class B dry chemical fire extinguisher
- Get out and call 911
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