| Established in 1926 | Claresholm, AB |
BLISTERING HEAT
A fire broke out in a garage at 217 52 Ave W in Claresholm, the residence of George Olienick, who works as a plumber. Here, a firefighter attempts to calm the flames shooting out from within. Photo by Alicia Fox
Fire breaks out
Alicia Fox - Local Press Writer
| A hot, searing blaze ripped through a local plumber’s garage Saturday night, turning all the contents to ash, including his equipment and paperwork for his home-based business. George Olienick, who lives at 217 52 Ave West in Claresholm, had been in his garage barely 20 minutes before the fire began, working on his books for the business. He had decided to step inside to make chicken stew for dinner. “Everything’s going on and then all of a sudden I heard a big boom,” he said. When he looked at the window, he saw smoke and bright orange flames pouring out of the front of his garage. “There’s over $50,000 of stuff in there,” he said. But it wasn’t just his equipment that had been in the garage. Olienick said he had $300 to $500 worth of cash, |
his driver’s licence, and all his paperwork for his business stored in the garage as well. The fire department received several phone calls about the incident and responded. Before they arrived, however, popping sounds could be heard from inside the garage as things exploded and gave way to the heat. Though the flames didn’t touch any other structure, the heat was intense enough to buckle and peel the side of the neighbour’s garage. When firefighters arrived, they put out the blaze, later having to use an axe to cut through the top of the garage to let smoke out and extinguish any hot spots. But while the contents were unrecognizable when the firefighters were done putting out the blaze, the brick structure still seemed sound. “That |
should’ve never happened,” he said. “That building was state of the art.” He bought the place in 1978 and has, since 1981, been working out of his home as a plumber. “I live in that place,” he said of the garage. “That’s where I work from home.” Cpl. Dalyn Orsten was one of the RCMP officers who responded to the scene and said the fire is not considered suspicious at this time but further investigation has to be done. “He (Olienick) is very particular about the way things are done,” he said. “If he says things are done the way they’re supposed to be, things would have been done the way they were supposed to be.” No one was hurt in the fire, and both vehicles Olienick owned were moved out of the garage at the time. |
4913 - 2 Street West, (P.O. Box 520) Claresholm, AB T0L 0T0
Phone (403) 625-4474 Fax (403) 625-2828 Email: info@claresholmlocalpress.ca
Phone (403) 625-4474 Fax (403) 625-2828 Email: info@claresholmlocalpress.ca