DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDECE - Firefighters in Fort Providence faced a tough fire that started in a crawlspace on Dec. 12.

One of the four residents of the home reported the fire to the Fort Providence Volunteer Fire Department at approximately 3:10 a.m. on Saturday.

The location of the fire made it very difficult to reach, said Andy Sapp, the volunteer fire chief.

"It took us three hours of digging at it to get where we needed to be," he said.

The residents weren't in immediate danger from the fire because at least one was awake at the time and there was little smoke when the department arrived, said Sapp. Conditions, however, deteriorated as the fire spread through the walls and floors.

The fire itself caused a small amount of damage but members of the department had to tear apart some of the floors and the walls, Sapp said.

"It just made the effort very difficult," he said about the fire's location.

Snow had to be moved from around the house but there was less than 16 inches, 41 centimetres, of space to manoeuver in the crawlspace.

Outside temperatures, which hovered around -36 C, also hampered the efforts.

"It really did make going in the building with our (self-contained breathing apparatus) SCBA very difficult," he said.

When a firefighter entered the house wearing their (SCBA) it would fog up making it hard for them to see anything. The smoke that developed in the house added to the problem.

"It was a tough fight," said Sapp.

The department was finally able to locate and extinguish all of the hot spots by 6 a.m. Sapp said he's thankful for the six members of the department who responded.

The fire provides a timely reminder, he said. Residents need to remember that even when it's cold out things still burn.

"People have to be very careful when it's cold like this," said Sapp.

Sapp declined to speculate on how the fire in the house started.