For the third time in eight days Red Deer Emergency Services have been called to the same downtown office building to put out a roof fire.
The first two incidents happened on July 3 and were inadvertently caused by roofers who have been working on the Port O Call Office Center at 4406 Gaetz Ave. since earlier this month. While an exact cause is still being determined it is believed a third incident Saturday afternoon was also caused by the Cooper Roofing crew.
Platoon chief Kelly Wilson said the call came in at 3:16 p.m. and fire-medics declared it knocked down about 4:30 p.m. Fire-medics used an aerial truck to get to the roof of the four-storey office building. Fifteen fire-medics, a pumper and ambulance were also on scene.
Wilson said the roofing work requires heating a sealant material with an open flame. If the underlying roof material gets too hot it can begin to smoulder without the roofers being able to see what is happening.
A damage estimate wasn’t available.
Besides damage to the roof, there was smoke inside the office building and fire-medics set up ventilating fans to clear the fumes.
All but one southbound lane was closed down on Gaetz Ave. while fire-medics put out the fire. The problem seemed to be located near the front edge of the roof on the Gaetz Avenue side. The fire was on the opposite side of the roof eight days ago.
Building owner Gerry Seibel was understandably frustrated by the problems getting his roof redone.
“That would be a real understatement,” he said as he watched unhappily from the street.
Emergency services were first called about noon July 3 after a smouldering fire was discovered. They were back on scene again about seven hours later to tackle a similar problem, said Seibel.
Last Monday, the building had to be evacuated when smoke and fumes from the roofing tar was sucked in by an intake and vented into the building. That was the fourth time fire-medics have had to come to the office tower.
“They shut the whole building down again,” said Seibel, whose business, Seibel Construction, is based out of the building.
A voicemail message left by the Advocate with Cooper Roofing on Saturday was not returned.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com