Family flees home after fire breaks out next door, officials investigating reports of explosion

A family in northeast Edmonton was woken up in the middle of the night and told to leave their home because of a fire that started in an empty house next door.

"I heard a big bang. I thought it was thunder, but then I woke up and saw in my window that there's debris scattering in front of our house," John Vincent Deyro told CTV News Edmonton.

"Someone was screaming, 'Hey, get out of the house. Your house might be on fire, get out right now.'"

He woke up his wife, their 10-year-old son and his cousin, grabbed a few important possessions, and fled.

The blaze at 12839 67 Street was reported as an explosion around 2:45 a.m., according to Edmonton Fire Rescue Service.

Another community member, Trent Larson, who heard the bang told CTV News Edmonton, "I actually thought it was a train derailing over five blocks away." 

Eight firefighting units as well as a hazmat team responded.

But by the time they arrived, the fire had already reached Deyro's duplex.

"I'm so speechless," he said. "Really devastated."

According to Deyro, the house where the fire started was unoccupied but not abandoned.

An Oct. 14, 2022, fire at 12839 67 St. was first reported as an explosion around 2:45 a.m., according to Edmonton Fire Rescue Service. A neighbour whose home was damaged in the fire said no one had been living at the address.

He has owned his home for four years.

EFRS is investigating to confirm whether an explosion did happen.

The Deyro family planned to stay with family until it was safe to return to their home. Fire officials determined their house's structure was intact although the house's attic and siding was damaged. 

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Evan Klippenstein and Nicole Lampa