A deep frying incident gone wrong resulted in the destruction of seven Cavell apartments in what is being described by the Jasper fire department as the biggest fire of the year.

“This is definitely the biggest fire of the year and had the highest potential... Without the skill shown by the crews, this could have been a horrific outcome,” said fire chief Greg Van Tighem.

About 230 apartments were evacuated and seven apartments were damaged by fire and smoke after the fire broke out on Mon, Dec. 7 at 6:30 p.m. on one of the coldest nights of the winter. No one was injured as a result of the fire.

According to Van Tighem, the fire began when a tenant in a first floor apartment began cooking vegetable oil in an attempt to deep fry his dinner.

The oil boiled over onto the stove and ignited, and the flames rose into a grease vent. Grease build-up inside the vent ignited, and the fire began to spread. It soon jumped out of the vent, and began creeping into the walls and ceiling. Since the fire was in the walls and ceiling, heat sensor sprinklers were not triggered at this time.

“The fire travelled up and hit the floor decking of the second floor and spread down the hall,” Van Tighem said.

The fire crew arrived on scene and began tearing apart the ceiling in search of the flames.

“They opened up the ceiling and it basically just exploded,” Van Tighem said. “It was very intense and our crews were very aggressive.”

Crews also discovered several openings in the ceilings that ran throughout the building, providing a perfect avenue for the fire to travel. Van Tighem said the age of the building was a factor in the blaze, and such construction would not be approved in today’s fire code.

“There were numerous voids where the fire could travel without being seen,” Van Tighem said.

Those holes, which Van Vighem speculated could be the remnants of old duct work or cable installations, gave the fire more avenues to travel.

Crews used a heat detector to fight the fire, as it began entering rooms in the building. At one point, four separate attack crews were chasing fires throughout the building.

“Anywhere they detected heat, they removed the ceiling,” Van Tighem said. “There was heavy smoke. Our guys were aggressive. Time was of the essence.”

The fire spread to the second floor through the walls again. Crews took apart walls in search of the fires, following the duct work and battling the fire in rooms.

The third floor only received smoke damage, as the flames were stopped before the fire continued to travel upwards.

Upon his arrival, Van Tighem ordered a full evacuation of the building. Town staff, fire crews and staff accommodation leaseholders helped with the evacuation and found homes for the displaced. The Sawridge offered use of their ballroom for evacuees. Mountain Park Lodges, which leases 20 rooms in Cavell, was able to put several members of its staff affected by the blaze in a hotel and is currently moving them into new accommodations.

Despite the efforts of Cavell staff, the evacuation did not run smoothly.

“There were some people still in their apartments, or who tried to go back for their things,” Van Tighem said. “If you’re in a building and the fire alarm goes off, you can’t stay in your room.”

The cold also played a factor in the effort. With temperatures dropping below -25C, the fire trucks were at a risk of freezing up. The aerial truck was sent back to the station at one point to prevent it from freezing.

Barry Gilbert, manager of Cavell apartments said in his ten years at the building, he’s seen nothing like this.

He said some tenants have been allowed back into their suites, however he doesn’t know when all of the families will be able to return.

“Everyone will be allowed back at some point. We don’t know when,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert is still waiting for the insurance company to inspect the building, and couldn’t place a dollar amount on the damage done. He said the owner of the building, who he wouldn’t identify, has been notified and a decision about the damage will be made at a later date.