Warman Fire Rescue (WFR) members battled a house fire late Monday night, April 19 on 2nd Avenue North in Warman.
Firefighters were able to contain the blaze to the basement, garage and attic, but there was also smoke damage throughout the residence.
Warman Fire Chief Russ Austin said quick-thinking neighbours prevented a tragedy. The owners of the house were sleeping at the time of the fire and were alerted by neighbours, who woke them by banging on their door. Other neighbours in the area heard the banging but did not see the smoke and called police. On arrival, RCMP officers immediately notified the fire department. The owners and their dogs exited the home, and firefighters rescued their cats during mop-up.
Fire crews were on scene from 11 p.m. to 1:15 a.m.
The cause of the fire was accidental.
This was the third fire in as many days for WFR. A fire to a residence on 4th Street West in Warman in the early morning hours of April 16 caused extensive damage.
A second potential house fire on April 17 was caught early by Warman Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Schwartz, who happened to be in the area and was able to extinguish it before it got out of hand. The fire in this case was ignited by smoking material not completely extinguished in a flowerpot. Firefighters strongly recommend extinguishing cigarettes in a can or jar with water in it, away from flammable flower pots that contain peat moss or other dry, flammable material.