In the early morning hours on May 14th, The Chestermere Fire Department was called when a fire broke out on the rooftop deck of a boathouse located at a residence on East Chestermere Drive.
Alerted by neighbours from across the street, Chad Hudson and his family were awakened to what Hudson describes as a three to four foot high flaming ball on the roof-top of his boathouse at the rear of his lakefront property, which doubles as a deck which overlooks Chestermere Lake.
According to Duty Officer Richard Miller, the Chestermere Fire department responded to a call to 985 East Chestermere Drive at 0537 on 14th May 2014. “The incident involved the decking above the boat house which was extinguished by the owner of the property and a neighbor using a garden hose and a fire extinguisher,” said Officer Miller, “Fire crews used a thermal imaging camera to check for fire spread. Further investigations are being carried out by RCMP and Fire Services.”
The circumstances around the fire has Hudson concerned. “It appears something was thrown or placed on the deck consisting of aerosol cans and some kind of flammable material,” explains Hudson. “I don’t know what the intent was but it appears suspicious to me.”
Together with a neighbour, Hudson put out the fire with a broom and garden hose. “By the time we got the fire under control the flames had already spread under the deck boards, the damage is extensive,” says Hudson, who adds that he believes the fire was started intentionally. Hudson’s family of four were all home at the time of the blaze, but luckily nobody was hurt.
Hudson is offering a $1,000 reward for any information about the fire that leads to finding the person or persons involved in this incident and would like anyone with information to call him at 403-651-4061.
