A Sunday afternoon fire has destroyed two Lacombe homes and damaged two others, leaving two families homeless.
The fire in a northeast subdivision broke out at about 5 p.m. in the garage of one home. It quickly spread to the house and a second home on Elisa Close in Lacombe’s Elizabeth Park subdivision.
No one was injured from either home, although a family dog died in the first house to catch blaze where a couple and their two teen daughters lived. They were not at home when the fire started.
The other home was owned by an elderly couple.
Fire Chief Ed vanDelden estimated the damage at $2 million. Fire investigators were heading to the scene on Monday afternoon to probe for a cause of the blaze.
Neighbouring fire departments from Blackfalds and Bentley were initially dispatched to the fire because Lacombe fire department was battling a grass fire near Joffre.
Lacombe fire department returned to Lacombe, leaving Clive fire department to battle the Joffre-area grass fire.
Twenty-seven volunteer firefighters from Lacombe and a dozen each from Blackfalds and Bentley fought the fire. It was brought under control in about an hour but firefighters remained on the scene until the early hours of Monday.