Cause of fatal Rae Street fire not yet determined

The fire that killed two people and hurt two others Saturday in Regina is still under investigation, according to Deputy Fire Chief Dustin McCullough.

McCullough said Monday there isn’t enough information yet to determine a cause, but Regina Fire and Protective Services is expected to provide an update later in the week.

The fire department was called Saturday at 8:30 a.m. to a house in the 800 block of Rae Street.

Crews on scene of a fatal house fire on the 800 Block of Rae Street. Two occupants pulled from the second floor succumbed to their injuries. Four occupants in the adjacent house were displaced due to fire damage to their property. Fire is under investigation. #yqr pic.twitter.com/rVcyUNsqfM

— Regina Fire (@Regina_Fire) December 9, 2023

McCullough said that when crews arrived, “heavy fire conditions” had swallowed up the house.

The house has since been boarded up, with a red fire investigation notice stapled to the door.

Two people were outside the house and they alerted police officers that there were still two more people inside.

“Those individuals were extracted through the second-floor window,” McCullough said. “Ultimately, they were pronounced deceased by EMS on scene.”

They were Regina’s second and third fire-related deaths so far this year.

Earlier this summer, a person died after what fire officials termed the “misuse” of an open-flame device. The victim in that case tried to light a cigarette with a butane torch, which the fire marshal said also “ignited some combustible materials that were intimate to her.”

McCullough said he would leave the damage estimate up to the insurance agency, but said the building was “severely damaged throughout.”

Four people in the house next door who were displaced by the fire had to be moved to another location because their house was damaged in the blaze.

“Mobile Crisis was called to assist with those four,” said McCullough.