Saturday night fire in Bearspaw burns original house

A fire in Bearspaw caused substantial damage to a home on Taylor Bay Saturday night. (Photo courtesy Shannon MacDonald)

A fire damaged a significant home in Bearspaw Saturday night.

At around 9:15 p.m. Saturday, EMS responded to a residence around Blackwell Bay and Township Road 254 in the Bearspaw community on reports of a house fire.

Laura Kitagema lives across the street and was watching the hockey game when the first fire truck came into the neighbourhood and didn’t think too much of it.

“But when the second and third one came in I got up and looked out and all I could see was flames engulfing the whole house," she told CTV News Calgary on Sunday.

The couple who owns the home are believed to be in their 70s and took refuge in their car in Kitagema’s driveway.

“It was pretty scary. The sparks were going over our house and over our neighbour’s house,” she said.

“I was so scared that all those trees were going to go up “

EMS assessed two adults who were able to exit the house and ultimately transported one person to hospital, but a spokesperson said it was for concerns of a medical nature and not related to the fire.

Neighbour Shannon MacDonald said in an email to CTV News that the home was on Taylor Bay and was one of the original houses built on the street back in the 1980s.

She said the residents were the original owners who lost over 40 years of memories.

“The Rockyview Fire Department arrived quickly, but the entire house burned very fast,” she said.

She said no other properties nearby sustained any damage.

A house fire in Bearspaw on Saturday night caused significant damage. One person was transported to hospital for reasons unrelated to the fire. (Photo: Tyler Barrow)