Two firefighters narrowly escaped after a “flashover” trapped them in the basement of a house on Bruce Avenue early Saturday morning.

The firefighters went searching the basement after a report of possible victims. Suddenly, fire “flashed over.”

“Flashover is one of the most dangerous situations of a fire,” said United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg President Alex Forrest. “Almost everything in the room simultaneously explodes.”

Temperatures inside the house shot up to 1,000 C. The trapped firefighters called “mayday” on their radios, and all other firefighters on scene worked to get them out, said Forrest.

The two were taken by ambulance to hospital for treatment for burn injuries. They were checked over and released.

On firefighter suffered second-degree burns, the other a back injury, according to the United Firefighters of Winnipeg.

Two occupants of the house were also taken to hospital, looked over and released.

Firefighters responded to the call about a fire at 126 Bruce Ave. around 12:45 a.m. Police were on scene Saturday morning and the arson unit has been notified, a police spokesperson said.

Damage from the fire is estimated at $100,000, said police.