Tragedy struck a home on the Thanksgiving holiday, just north of Okotoks on 306th Avenue East, West of the Hebson area near The Mill Store last night.

Ken Thevenot, Okotoks Fire Chief, says the flames had already caused significant damage by the time crews arrived on scene.

"We got the call around 8:45 last evening. When we arrived, the flames had breached through the roof, and crews went for a defensive attack right from the start," he said.

Thevenot says although the home was a total loss, they are thankful no residents or first responders were injured.

"The residents were not home at the time, they were visiting neighbours. It was a large home, there was no other exposures close to it, so we were able to contain the fire just to that one specific house. It was a total loss, unfortunately, but there were no injuries to anyone, firefighters or residents," he said.

Several departments assisted Okotoks with containing the blaze, such as Atco, Fortis, RCMP, the MD of Foothills Heritage Pointe, High River and Black Diamond Fire Departments.

Thevenot adds crews are currently on scene monitoring hot spots as they prepare to investigate the cause of the blaze.

We'll update the story as it progresses.

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