In the blink of an eye everything can change. That’s exactly what happened in Virden on Friday, August 7 at 9:14 a.m.
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The Virden RCMP were notified of a house fire, caused by an explosion at a house on Thompson Place.
The first people to arrive at the scene were two Manitoba Hydro workers. Staff Sergeant Steve Sumner stated, “I’m very proud of the fire department and my own guys, also the way they reacted in a potentially very dangerous situation, I also want to give recognition to the hydro workers that were on the scene and selflessly tried to rescue the injured party.”
When the police arrived the house was engulfed in flames.
Wallace District Fire Department was on the scene. Firefighters pulled the home-owner from the residence. The home -owner was taken to the Virden hospital with serious, but non-life threatening injuries. The house right beside the explosion caught fire as well and was completely destroyed.
The firefighters did everything in their power to keep the fire from spreading to additional houses and were successful.
The Office of the Fire Commissioner (OFC) has determined the cause of the fire and explosion was the rupture of a gas line outside one of the homes as a result of work done outside the home. Natural gas then filtered into the home and was likely ignited by a pilot light.
The OFC would like to remind anyone doing work, or having work done around their property, to call before you dig and ensure all local utilities are contacted and the area is checked before work proceeds.
Other injuries from the fire; two RCMP officers were treated but released at the scene. A firefighter was taken to the hospital after rescuing the injured male and home owner, as a precaution.
The two dogs involved in the fire were also rescued. One dog was rescued at the scene and the other one was later found.
