Cranbrook Fire and Emergency Services had a busy week with four separate blazes including two house fires.
The first house fire was sparked on July 8 and spread to an adjacent home.
MORE: House fire extinguished by Cranbrook Fire Department (July 9, 2024)
On July 13, a home on the 3800 block of 42nd Avenue South was destroyed.
There were no injuries in either incident and Cranbrook Fire and Emergency Services director Scott Driver said they don’t believe they are suspicious.
“At this time the investigation is ongoing but we are not considering either of the fires suspicious in nature,” he said.
While it seems like a lot of fires for one week, Driver said the number of calls has been normal.
However, the heat wave is making them get out of control much faster.
“We’re having the same number of fire calls in the city right now. It’s just they are escalating to be significantly worse due to the dry conditions,” he said.
“As the relative humidity goes down and the temperature goes up it grows to an extent that is very difficult to control quite quickly.”
The fire department also responded to a human-caused grass fire on July 9.
MORE: Cranbrook Fire department extinguishes second fire in two days (July 10, 2024)
And on July 14 there was an early morning grass fire in the Pinewood Avenue area.
The fire started in an encampment and quickly spread to the surrounding area.
Five staff responded and there were no reported injuries.
Driver said residents need to be diligent when the weather is this hot.
“If you’re out in the bush or at your house, just exercise extra caution.”
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