Man dies in hospital after garage fire near Lewvan Drive and 7th Avenue

The victim in Friday night’s deadly garage fire near Lewvan Drive and Seventh Avenue was described by the Regina Fire Department as the “mechanic type.”

“He was in the garage for sure. His wife said he was in there tinkering. What he was doing, of course we can’t ask him, unfortunately,” said Randy Ryba, Regina’s fire marshal.

On Friday night, crews responded to reports of an explosion and a fire in the 4400 block of Seventh Avenue.

When firefighters arrived at about 8:45 p.m., they were met with heavy flames and smoke.

Then there was a second explosion.

Ryba said firefighters escaped serious injury when a bottle of nitrous oxide – a gas used when modifying cars to boost engine power – blew up.

“It knocked both of our firefighters over and put a big dent in the side of the truck. Luckily, our firefighters were not injured. Just goes to show the perils of garage fires – you never know what’s inside,” he said.

“One was knocked to the ground. The other one, it actually knocked his helmet right off of his head. Large piece of shrapnel coming off this nitrous oxide bottles.”

According to a news release from the fire department, the man who was in his mid-20s, was found laying in the alley when crews arrived.

He was taken to hospital with critical injuries and succumbed to severe burns on Saturday morning.

The man’s wife was evacuated safely, Ryba noted.

Ryba said this was the city’s first fire fatality in more than a year.

So far, he said it looks unintentional but the exact cause is still under investigation.

Short clip of the garage fire last night I hope the man working in the garage was not seriously injured and recovers. I trimmed video removing the second larger explosion #yqr #fire #rosemont @CJMENews @GlobalRegina @CTVReginaLive pic.twitter.com/EbAtGAC8YS

— Craig Boehm (@Skstormchaser) October 12, 2019

Those living nearby tell 980 CJME they heard a trio of house-shaking pops before they noticed the flames.

A garage in the 4400 block of Seventh Avenue is extensively damaged after a fire on Oct. 11, 2019. (Jessie Anton/980 CJME)

“We were in the house watching T.V. and there was a bang and we didn’t know what it was, so we looked out the back but didn’t see anything. About five minutes later, there was another big bang … and then finally my wife looked out from the back porch and the flames were already as high as the trees,” said a man who lives three doors down from the scene.

Though the house appears to have only endured some melted siding in the fire, only a charred frame and burnt, twisted rubble remains of the garage.

Regina Fire is holding the scene until inspectors can begin investigating the cause of the blaze on Tuesday.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Jessie Anton and Andrew Shepherd