‘Seconds count’: Chestermere house fire extinguished fast thanks in part to quick thinking boater

The smoke was first spotted from Chestermere Lake. A boater saw it seeping out of a lakefront home at around 3:30 p.m. Thursday. That boater quickly called 911.

Fire crews arrived shortly after and found flames shooting out of the back of the home.

“There is significant damage to the interior of the home,” Chestermere Fire Chief Brain Pomrenke said.

The family living there wasn’t home at the time, but their dog was inside and sadly, did not survive.

READ MORE: ‘It looked like a fireball. The biggest I’ve ever seen’: Fire damages homes in Cochrane

Fire officials are investigating what caused the blaze but at this point it appears to have started in the kitchen area.

Pomrenke said fires like this tend to spread very fast, so that quick 911 call made a big difference.

“Seconds count when it comes to a structure fire. In this instance…the homes are close together and with the complex nature of this fire it could have rapidly spread to the next two [houses].”

READ MORE: 2-alarm fire damages 3 homes in Martindale

Investigators expect to know more about how this fire started in the next few days.