Lighting cigarette with butane torch led to fatal blaze: Fire marshal

Regina’s fire marshal said the fire that claimed a life Sunday on Quebec Street started after the victim lit a cigarette with a butane torch.

Crews responded to a house fire on the 1700 Blk of Quebec St. Fire extended to the neighboring house. Crews working to extinguish the fire. Please keep clear of the area while crews are working. Fire will be investigated. #YQR pic.twitter.com/cjQ2uTiq31

— Regina Fire (@Regina_Fire) July 9, 2023

Randy Ryba of Regina Fire and Protective Services said Thursday the investigation into the blaze determined the unintentional fire was caused by what he called “the use — or the misuse — of an open-flame device while lighting a cigarette.”

“The cause of ignition was the open-flame device that ignited some combustible materials that were intimate to her,” Ryba said during a media conference.

Ryba said the victim was the individual who used the torch; a second person who was hurt was in the same room at the time the fire started.

The fire marshal noted the fire was intense and the room in which it started was fully involved by the time the first fire truck arrived. Ryba said firefighters were at the scene less than four minutes after the call came in.

“Fires happen extremely quickly,” Ryba said. “People don’t have a lot of time to evacuate, some people do get trapped and these are the unfortunate consequences we deal with every day.”

Ryba said it was the city’s first fire fatality in the past 18 months. He added that on average, two to three people die in fires in Regina every year.

The fire Sunday spread to the neighbouring house and caused extensive damage. Ryba said the residents of that home likely will be displaced for some time.

The incident prompted a warning from the fire marshal.

“Handling open-flame devices — be it a match, be it a lighter, be it a butane torch — for whatever reason, take care because things can happen very quickly on the wrong side of things,” Ryba said.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Daniel Reech