A family lost everything in a house fire Thursday afternoon along Hespeler Street south of Steinbach. Deputy Fire Chief Don Smith says they received the call shortly after lunch. In the process of responding, the fire was confirmed by the homeowner.

Smith says they arrived on scene, approximately one and a half miles south of the water tower, to find the structure engulfed in flames. "We went into a defensive mode when attacking the fire," notes Smith. "We didn't let anyone into the building." La Broquerie Fire was quickly called upon to bring in their tanker for assistance.

"It ended up that the structure was a total loss," says Smith. The Fire Commissioner has determined the fire was caused by a burning candle left unattended in the kitchen. Smith says the damage estimate of the house and contents is between $350,000-$400,000.

Smith admits it was a difficult fire to get under control. He notes the house was an older structure that had been added onto several times. "We had three different structures put together into one," he says. "What had happened in the structure is we had fire in three different areas. And it was very difficult to get at." Smith says they would concentrate on one area and then flames would break out in a different area and then the roof started collapsing. "It just ended up to be a very difficult fire to fight."

Smith says the homeowner was on the yard at the time of the fire. "He was working outside. The smoke alarm alerted him to the fire," says Smith. "So he got a little bit of a head start. Once he heard the smoke detector from the outside, he investigated and then immediately called 911." There were no injuries.

"It's sad, it's just very sad," says Smith. Whether the fire happens during the Christmas season or any other time of year, Smith says it's sad anytime. "Everything that these people have is gone. There's nothing salvageable in that house, nothing," says Smith. "We just couldn't believe it. There's nothing that they're going to walk out of there with." He notes however the house was fully insured.

Smith says his crew was at the fire until about 8pm when they received another call; and again it was for a structure fire. They were called to David's Bay south of Mitchell where contents inside a garage had started burning. "The homeowner was heating the garage with a kerosene fire heater," he says. "The heater was placed too close to the material and the material ignited."

Smith notes crews were able to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher. Damage is estimated at $2500 for smoke and $100 for contents. There were no injuries.