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Fire on main street found to be accidental

Fire started in ceiling where electrical wiring was located
Fire with Bonnyville Truck
The Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority helped contain a fire in St. Paul on Oct. 26. The fire has been deemed accidental. File photo.

ST. PAUL - A fire that ravaged a building on St. Paul's main street in October has been deemed accidental.

St. Paul Fire Department responded to a report of a commercial structure fire on Oct. 26 at about 7:15 p.m. The fire burned for a number of hours and, "ultimately in the interest of public safety, an excavator was brought in to begin demolishing the building to extinguish remaining hotspots," according to Fire Chief Trevor Kotowich.

An investigation was done by the St. Paul Fire Department, and the fire was found to be accidental.

"The fire originated in the south-east corner in the ceiling/roof area, where electrical wiring was located," explained Kotowich. "The fire quickly spread through the roof structure, where multiple layers of roof materials were located, making extinguishment challenging."

The St. Paul Fire Department would like to extend a thank-you to the RCMP, Medavie EMS, Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority, Town of St. Paul Public Works, and Steven Wychopen for assistance in battling the fire.

"We would also like to thank 7-Eleven and Insta Pawn for providing hot coffee and snacks for the firefighters," added Kotowich.

The commercial property was being used as an automotive shop, and was a landmark on St. Paul's main street, with vehicles parked outside that were made to look like the popular characters from the cartoon Cars. Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen were both saved from the fire.

Support

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Kelley and David Prymych recover from the devastating fire. 

Christine Hanson set up the GoFundMe page. In the description on the page, she speaks to how the fire occurred on Kelley's birthday.

"Of course, nothing monetary can replace the emotional sentiments that were lost, but my hope is just to extend some help to offset the clean up costs of the wreckage left from the fire and maybe generate some leads for a new path for Driving Memory Lane. Every single donation is hugely appreciated and I would like to say thank-you in advance," reads the GoFundMe page.

So far, $3,390 has been raised of the $20,000 goal that has been set.

Pick up this week's edition of Lakeland This Week for more coverage of the fire.


Janice Huser

About the Author: Janice Huser

Janice Huser has been with the St. Paul Journal since 2006. She is a graduate of the SAIT print media journalism program, is originally from St. Paul and has a passion for photography.
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