Dale Marshall learned Dec. 30 that it only takes a minute for a whole building to go up in flames as he watched his shop burn to the ground.
Marshall was in his shop that day, located just northwest of Westlock, trying to thaw the pipes in the partially renovated space. Due to frigid temperatures that week there was a space heater running and he was using an electric heat gun to help get the water running again.
Then the breaker flipped.
He stopped what he was doing to switch the breaker back on and visited the washroom on the way back. Minutes later he noticed smoke coming from under the door. The addition to his shop was covered in thick, black smoke and he could see just a flicker of a flame.
When he opened the door the fire took off.
“All I could do then was stand back and watch because I had no water and my fire extinguishers were in the shop… I was completely helpless. It was 40 below,” said Marshall.
Marshall scrambled to get his Jeep out of the shop, but there were several other vehicles parked next to the shop that he needed help moving. Luckily, a neighbour drove by at this time and offered to help.
“It burned pretty hot, pretty quick,” he said. “I could not believe how quickly it was lost. All my equipment and tools and everything I accumulated over the years was gone,” he said.
In the meantime, Marshall’s wife Debbie was in the house, trying to call 911.
“When I had called and spoke to the dispatcher, the phone went dead, and Telus came on to say my call couldn’t be completed…. It happened three times. I don’t know what was going on there,” said Debbie. “When you’re in that state you just kind of lose it a little bit more.”
By the time fire departments from Pickardville, Fawcett and Westlock County arrived on the scene, there wasn’t much left of the shop.
“I don’t believe they could have got here any quicker…. They would have had to be just around the corner,” said Marshall, adding the gas and power companies were also very helpful as they worked quickly to shut off the utilities and then have them turned back on by that night.
“We had power and gas restored by 9 o’clock that night,” he said.
A few days later, Marshall was watching a hockey game on TV when the cause of the fire occurred to him. To this point he had thought a piece of plastic, used as a vapour barrier, from the partially renovated addition fell from the roof and on to the heater and started the fire.
“It just dawned on me…. When I was using that heat gun and the breaker blew I set the heat gun down, but I didn’t turn the switch off,” he said.
The fire investigator later confirmed that was indeed the cause of the fire.
A mechanic by trade, Marshall had a lot of hand and power tools in the shop, along with other equipment. He is also a hunter, who makes his own jerky and sausage so had a lot of meat processing equipment in the building as well as several firearms, all of which are now gone. Nothing was salvageable.
“The important thing is that no one got hurt. There were some things that had sentimental value, and that kind of bothered me but nobody died, and nobody got seriously injured, so that’s a good thing,” he said.
When the insurance adjuster called on Jan. 2 to arrange for the utilities to be turned back on, Marshall was happy to announce they had already been well taken care of.
“We know people in the community, and they care. These guys gave up their holiday time with their family to come help us. I figure that’s pretty good,” he said referring not only to the neighbours who stopped by to help but also the utilities workers who went above and beyond to have power and heat restored soon after the blaze.
As the debris clean up goes on, neighbours and friends continue to offer their support to the Marshalls. They are genuinely touched by all those who offered the use of their shops, garages and houses, or offered them a place to stay.
“It’s amazing, and they continue to do that,” he said. “I don’t wish this situation would happen to anybody, but if it has to happen, I tell you, we live in a pretty good place in the world.”
