Photo Credit: High Prairie RCMP

By Shane Clausing

Community

Quick acting RCMP officer alerts High Prairie residents of house fire

Nov 10, 2020 | 5:30 AM

A High Prairie RCMP officer is receiving praise for his quick action in alerting High Prairie residents about a fire at their home last week.

On November 5 at 4:30 p.m., Cst. Matthew MacMinn with the High Prairie General Investigation Section was parked in the area of 47 Street and 52 Avenue.

Cst. MacMinn was just finishing up with a call, where he saw witnessed a house erupt into flames.

“I just finished up with the file and was talking to the victim, and we were just about to leave the area and (the victim) kind of looked up, and I noticed (them) looking at something and I noticed where (the victim) was looking at and we could see a big cloud of black smoke and the flames coming up from the next house over. We were about 2-3 doors down from the house that was burning.”

From there, Cst. MacMinn called the fire department. While the fire department was on their way to the house, MacMinn noticed that something wasn’t right.

Meaningful Mementos

Remembering Someone You've Lost at Christmas

Dec 03, 2024

Seasonal Sorrow

How Do You Get Through The Holidays When You're Grieving?

Nov 01, 2024

Upcoming Events at Oliver's

Grief & Loss and Estate Planning Seminars

Oct 02, 2024

“There was still a car in the driveway and the flames were quite big at that point.”

The fire, which started in the shed of the backyard of the home was heading directly towards the home with the car parked in the front of it.

“As I got out of my truck, I just noticed that the flames had just reached the power lines, I saw the sparks ignite from there, the power line dropped and that’s when I decided to runover and check.”

He says the homeowners were unaware that there was a fire approaching their house.

“As I got to the door, you could see an older gentleman inside. He opened the door and I talked to him, and he seemed kind of confused. I just helped them with whatever I could. They were obviously very frantic as they realized what was going on.”

“I made sure it was just the two of them in the house and they had a cat inside as well. I got them out of the house as quick as I could and by that time, I could see that the fire had taken up the whole south side of the house and wall.”

Thankfully, everybody was able to get out of the house, including the cat that was able to escape safely and there were no injuries reported.

The fire was then put out by the High Prairie Fire Department by 4:50 p.m.

MacMinn tells EverythingGP that when he saw the fire start to get closer to the house, he knew he had to do something.

“I think it’s kind of how we are trained to operate. You see a situation that you need to act on, and you just go do it. I think any one of my co-workers would’ve reacted the same way. My other co-workers that were in town at the detachment were there within seconds as well to help get the surrounding houses evacuated as well.”

MacMinn also added that the fire department did an excellent job with containing the fire as they kept the fire from damaging any other homes.

“The quick action of our officer saved lives today,” said Sgt. Brent Lawson, Operations NCO High Prairie RCMP. “We are thankful no one was injured as the fire could have easily gotten out of control.”

The investigation into the fire by the High Prairie Fire Department determined that the fire was deemed to be non suspicious in nature.