Skip to content

Blast destroys unoccupied house

The cause of an explosion that levelled an empty house near Springbrook on Sunday morning is still under investigation.
County Fire 110717jer
Assistant Fire Chief Tom Metzger sifts through some of the damage of this uninhabited house which exploded around 9 a.m. Sunday morning about 5 km south of Red Deer. No one was injured and the cause is still under investigation.

The cause of an explosion that levelled an empty house near Springbrook on Sunday morning is still under investigation.

At 9:15 a.m., Red Deer County Firefighters responded to an explosion and fire three km east and a south of hamlet of Springbrook.

The County’s fire services manager Allan Weiss said the older “post-war” bungalow that blew up had been unoccupied for some time. Since no one was in the house, there were no injuries.

Weiss reported the fire was quickly brought under control by about 25 volunteer firefighters from three county stations. However, the blaze took many more hours to completely extinguish.

A few firefighters were still spraying down the structure that had sustained significant interior damage at 4 p.m.

“They’ve been battling it all day,” said Weiss, who noted several pumper trucks and tankers were needed to bring water to the rural property.

No damage estimate was available on Sunday afternoon.

Representatives from the county, the RCMP, ATCO Gas and the provincial fire inspector’s office are continuing to investigate.