Dec. 5 fire destroys Bell Crescent house - Incident Report

An early morning fire gave Fort McMurray firefighters challenges that saw crews on scene throughout most of the day on Thursday, Dec. 5. Eventually, the house had to be demolished to fully extinguish it.

Firefighters first responded shortly after 1 a.m. to a report of a house on fire on Bell Crescent. Crews found a working fire in the basement and were on scene for several hours.

Firefighters were called back to house shortly after 6 a.m. after reports that the fire had restarted in the attic of the building.

Throughout the day, fire crews worked in shifts to battle the stubborn fire in a defensive approach. After 3 p.m., an excavator was called in to conduct a demolition of the still burning structure. Firefighters and other emergency personnel remained on the scene until after 5 p.m.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.