In a flash, a pot fire on the stove spread and set a Parkvale kitchen ablaze Wednesday afternoon.
Kelly Chatwood was in her Red Deer home at the time, as well two of her children, age two and four, and said she had left the pot alone for a short period of time.
“It went up in seconds,” she said.
Red Deer Emergency Services responded to the fire at 4601-46th Ave. at around 2:30 p.m. Platoon Chief Terry Brew said they had 17 fire medics on scene battling the blaze, which they had under control within 20 minutes.
“She had something on the stove cooking, it caught on fire and spread to the curtains and it turned into a full kitchen fire,” said Brew.
“No one was injured, everyone was outside when we arrived. We had it knocked down within five minutes of our arrival.”
He said the kitchen was totally gutted and that was where the fire was confined to. There was smoke damage to the rest of the unit. He was unable to estimate the cost of the damage.
The investigation into the fire began about an hour after it started and is ongoing.
“We’ve lost everything,” said Chatwood.
After seeing the fire she got her children out as fast as she could. She was joined by family after the fire.
She said she was going to be taken back into the home by fire crews to see what could be salvaged, but she seemed pessimistic about what was left.
The building is a duplex owned by the Red Deer Housing Authority. The fire happened in the south unit’s kitchen. Sadika Mujic and her family live in the north unit and were not home at the time of the fire. Mujic said she was out picking up her daughter when the fire happened. She and her family inspected their unit with firefighters to investigate and assess the damage.
The Red Deer Housing Authority was unable to comment because Emergency Services hadn’t completed their investigation yet.
mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com