Witnesses report hearing explosions as fire engulfs White City home

Firefighters were busy putting out flames at a home in White City on Tuesday night.

Many people in the neighbourhood gathered to watch and take videos of the burning home on Lipsett Street.

Scott Kuntz, who lives down the street from where the fire happened and said he walked over to take a look after hearing what sounded like several explosions.

“I heard a loud boom, and about 20 seconds later another loud boom, not knowing what it was,” Kuntz said, adding that he initially thought he was hearing some machinery banging around.

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“As we walked down the street, another five or six loud booms or explosions went, and by the time we got down, which is only about 100 yards from our house, the entire half part of the house and the entire garage was engulfed in flames, and it was just about as high as just about the tops of the trees, so probably about 50 or 60 feet high.”

Kuntz told 980 CJME he started to get worried the fire might spread to other homes after seeing the house engulfed in flames, with towers of smoke billowing up into the air.

“With all the trees nearby, any sort of wind would have brought the fire up and down a number of the streets,” he said.

Another witness, Hudson Lorenz, said he also heard loud noises.

“I heard three big bangs and I thought ‘What the heck is this?’ I come over and see a bunch of black smoke,” he said.

“I was really shocked. Man, I was in disbelief. I couldn’t speak. If that ever happened to me, I would just be so disappointed.”

Fire departments from White City, Pilot Butte and Emerald Park all responded to the fire. No injuries have been reported.

–With files from 980 CJME’s Daniel Reech