Home owner Bryan Beekman says he lost everything in a Friday afternoon house fire

By Lara Fominoff

home destroyed

LPS and firefighters investigating cause of explosions and fire in north side home

Jul 26, 2019 | 3:56 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A series of explosions and subsequent fire in a north side home, has left a man and his pets homeless – and his house in shambles.

Bryan Beekman says around 12 p.m. Friday, July 26, he and a friend were relaxing and having a drink in the basement of his home.

“I was renting my garage out to a couple of friends. They messaged me and said they really needed a place to stay. And next thing, we heard a couple of explosions and (I) grabbed the dogs and got out.”

A home in the 2300 Blk. of 7 Ave. N went up in flames friday

Beekman, who uses either a wheelchair or a prosthetic limb, said he hopped up the stairs without them. As he was doing so, he noticed a strong chemical odour permeating the home.

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“I don’t know, I think they might have been cooking something in my garage. I was just renting them my garage…they just got their stuff in early this morning.”

When LNN arrived at the home in the 2300 blk of 7 Ave. N, a woman who appeared to be in her early to mid-20s was sitting on the curb with a small breed, long haired, grey dog. She was wearing a large grey sweater, black pants and white sneaker type shoes. She had long, sandy coloured hair tied in a loose ponytail and was wearing what appeared to be light coloured prescription glasses.

She suddenly stood up and ran east along 7 Ave. N with her dog, then around a corner and headed south. A man wearing a black shirt and tan pants followed along with her on a bicycle, as Beekman yelled at a crowd of onlookers, “Stop her! Somebody stop her!”

Lethbridge Police arrived on scene a few minutes later.

Lethbridge Fire Acting Platoon Chief Shawn Folk said four stations, and more than two dozen firefighters responded to the blaze.

“Initially the call came in – we had multiple 9-1-1 calls coming in of an explosion on the north side. Firefighters, when we arrived on scene were met with quite a bit of smoke and lots of high heat, lots of high intensity heat from the front doors. Access was gained because the doors were open.”

Inside, Folk says the home was filled with smoke as firefighters searched the top floor and basement. The fire was knocked down once but flared up a second time before it was put out. No one was injured; however, Beekman says he was not able to get a guinea pig out of his house before he had to escape.

At this point the home appears to be extensively damaged, and fire investigators along with Lethbridge Police are investigating the cause and where it originated, Folk explained.

“Patterns seem to be pointing to the north west corner which the garage is located at, following burn patterns and smoke patterns.”

An official cause of the fire has not been determined yet, and it’s not clear if there could potentially be any charges laid. Damage is estimated at $200,000.

“This is what I get for being nice, you know?” said Beekman. “Everything I had is gone.”

Photos below from LNN’s Brandyn Montgomery:

House fire. (Lethbridge News Now)

House fire. (Lethbridge News Now)

House fire. (Lethbridge News Now)

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