Neighbour near burning Nutana-area home woke to ‘horrific cries’

A faint campfire-like smell around 1:30 a.m. Friday morning didn’t concern LeeAnn Latrimouille when she went to bed. She simply thought it might be a neighbour relaxing in their yard.

Latrimouille lives three houses away from a large, three-storey home that went up in flames early Friday morning in the 500 block of Albert Ave. in Saskatoon.

About an hour later, that smell woke her up- only this time she says the smell of burning wood was accompanied by cries for help.

“I woke up around 2:30 a.m. to loud voices and stuff, and kind of half asleep I just figured it was people making noise down the street. But I kinda came to pretty quick and realized that those screams were kind of horrific.”

Saskatoon police said in a release Friday afternoon that the remains of a 25-year-old man were discovered in the home. The Fire Dept. also confirmed earlier that two people were sent to hospital.

She went into her living room and looked out the window to see what she described as the entire street ‘glowing orange.’

A home in the 500 Blk. of Albert Ave. goes up in flames. (Photo Courtesy LeeAnn Latrimouille)

“So, I ran out in my housecoat and barefoot just to see the house spewing flames; the people who had been inside just screaming despondent on the boulevard.”

At that point, neighbours started coming out of their homes and Latrimouille ran back inside to call 911.

“I heard folks yelling that there were people still inside,” she said.

She saw four people who she believed lived in the home, being helped by some neighbours. She then offered her home as a refuge to a couple with a baby who lived next to the burning house.

A Saskatoon police officer was on the scene first, and very shortly thereafter fire crews arrived.

She doesn’t know anyone who lived in the home but said it had several renters, and there were often many people seen coming and going throughout the day and night.

“There was a fair bit of come and go,” she explained.

The front porch of the home was burned to the ground, while the face of the home was also extensively damaged.

Latrimouille says she’s shaken up by the events and didn’t get much sleep.

“I had the neighbours next door in the back yard, because they couldn’t go in their house until it was cleared for carbon monoxide, but I was cleared to go back in around 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. You don’t just go to sleep after that.”

There’s no word yet on the cause of the fire.