Two Martensville homes badly damaged by fire

A fire in Martensville has destroyed one home and heavily damaged a neighbouring house after igniting early Sunday morning.

Crews were notified shortly after the blaze began around 3:30 a.m. By the time crews got there, one house was fully covered in flames that were quickly spreading to the second home.

“We managed to stop it at those two. (The fire) got into the roof of one, and the other house is pretty much totally destroyed on the main floor,” said Martensville Fire Chief Curtis Dyck.

Damage is being pegged at around $500,000.

(Submitted photo)

Families in both homes were safely outside the homes by the time fire crews arrived.

“The home owner in the house said he actually heard the fire. He said it sounded like a wind storm,” Dyck said. “(He) wasn’t able to able to exit the home from the front because the fire started outside on the front step, but he was able to get out.”

A man in a basement suite of the house that was destroyed managed to escape through a back window.

“He made it out just in time.”

Dyck said investigators believe  a carelessly discarded cigarette butt started the fire.