A wooden home burnt down in the King’s Park area this morning. Ruth Pipersburgh had just started her work day when she got the call to say that her home was on fire. 7NEWS was there.
Jules VasquezReporting,
Smoke streamed out of the roof of this home at 20 Landivar Street in the King’s Park Area, as the family looked on in stunned and saddened disbelief. The Fire Department got the call at 8:14 – and arrived 2 minutes later with three trucks. The fire was quickly brought under control – and because of the space in the yard posed no real threat to adjoining homes. Ruth Pipersburgh said she was at work when her sister called to say her house is on fire.
Ruth Pipersburgh, Fire Victim
“I got a phone call on my cell and it was my sister and she sounded frightened but I was calm and asked what is wrong. She asked where I was, I said was in front of the new church building and she said thank God you are okay. She said your house is on fire and I said, 'What, I just left from home!' She said Ruthie your house is on fire. I said okay, I am coming.”
And when she got there she saw her family home, 35 years old –almost completely destroyed.
Ruth Pipersburgh,
“This has memories, it holds a lot of memories so (it's) just frightening. Well I am just happy that I am alive and yes I have lost everything but with
God all things work together for good for those that love him so I’ll hold on to that I am fine and my family knows that I am okay.”
She had just left home ten minutes before the fire was reported. She points to the appearance of it coming from the roof but the Fire Department is reaching no quick conclusions.
Ted Smith, Assistant Fire Chief
“We do not know what might caused this fire. Presently the investigation will commence now, the occupier of the house and owner Mrs. Pipersburgh, we spoke to her earlier but no indication as to what might have caused the fire.”
And while it was contained, there was one very volatile threat, this butane tank.
Ted Smith,
“This morning we saw a situation that could have gotten disastrous if it was not properly managed. That 100 LPG cylinder, or what we call butane, valve got damaged during the fire and it had to be removed from structure. We tried to control the gas coming out by wrapping it with wet cloth and hoped that it would then freeze off itself. The size of the discharge, the hole was... LPG was coming out very fast. The area became saturated with gas in the atmosphere which could have made it very dangerous. If you’re leaving the home, it is always advisable to put measures in place to reduce the risk of fires such as cutting off your LPG cylinder, cut off the gas line if there will not be use. It is always wise to turn the tank off.”
The home was not insured.
Because of coordination issues between police and fire teams, there was a crowd control problem this morning – and it was made more dangerous with the volatile butane tank. The Fire Department asks all those arriving at a fire scene to keep their distance until the situation is normalized.
