Investigators are continuing to look into the cause of a fire at Fort Steele’s gift shop on Sunday evening, but have determined it is unconnected with the weekend’s prescribed burns.
Crews with Cranbrook Fire and Emergency Services were sent out to the blaze shortly after 6 p.m. and were able to knock back the flames.
“When we arrived on scene, the main office/gift shop was on fire. There was a significant fire on the outside of the building,” said Fire Chief Scott Driver. “We hooked up to the hydrant system which is out there and were able to extinguish the fire quite quickly once we arrived.”
The crew’s efforts were aided by the building’s fire suppression system.
“The sprinkler system inside the building was activated and was holding the fire, so it didn’t spread throughout the building prior to our arrival,” said Driver.
One person suffered minor injuries and no animals were harmed by the blaze.
“They were treated and released on the scene. It’s not uncommon when people are trying to help adjacent to fires,” said Driver.
“The animals were kind of running all over the place. When we arrived on the scene, there were some bystanders who were very familiar with the horses who had come to help,” said Driver. “They had taken care of and corraled the horses away from the fire. That was greatly appreciated by our staff and the people at Fort Steele. The neighbourhood really pulled together.”
Driver said a resident with a private water truck arrived to help out as well.
“He had a very large water truck and was just willing to come help because I think the value of Fort Steele is kind of felt by everyone in the area,” said Driver. “It was really nice to see how well the community was behind Fort Steele and was willing to do what they could.”
The investigation is ongoing, so the exact cause of the fire is undetermined for now, but Driver said it was unrelated to the prescribed burns going on in the area.
“I’m confident that the fire was not started by anything off-site,” said Driver. “It appears the fire started around 6:30. Coincidentally there are other controlled fires going on in the area, but they are not linked in any way.”