Fire at west-end apartment building like an 'explosion': residents
When flames broke out at an apartment building in west Edmonton Monday morning, residents heard a loud "blast" and felt their floor shake.
Just before 10:30 a.m. Brighton Court resident Poonam Gaba felt a "bomb blast" on her fourth floor.
When she went outside her apartment, Gaba told CTV News Edmonton she saw black smoke streaming from her neighbour's unit.
"My whole place just shook and I heard this explosion," added longtime and third-floor resident Margaret Courtoreille.
"I went to go and look upstairs and I couldn't because there was so much smoke."
Firefighters were called to the complex at 106 Avenue NW and 156 Street NW just before 10:30 a.m., according to Edmonton Fire Rescue Services. The Edmonton Police Service responded, too, and a spokesperson confirmed to CTV News the fire is considered suspicious and is under investigation.
"Initially there was six units – which is 24 firefighters – and we called for an additional three," district chief Robert Garth said.
Two of the additional units were technical rescue teams, because one wall had been breached – or "cracked" as Gaba described it.
The building was evacuated but residents were able to return to their homes around noon if their unit had been unaffected. It's not known if the resident of the unit where the fire originated was at home at the time, but Garth confirmed no one had been hurt.
Crews had the blaze under control around 10:43 a.m.
Total damages were estimated to be $575,000, consisting mostly of structural damage plus $50,000 in lost contents.
Police and fire investigators were back at the scene on Tuesday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'oesn't get' the global phenomenom.
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Tornadoes collapse buildings and level homes in Nebraska and Iowa
Tornadoes wreaked havoc Friday in the Midwest, causing a building to collapse with dozens of people inside and destroying and damaging hundreds of homes, many around Omaha, Neb.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
From New York to Arizona: Inside the head-spinning week of Trump's legal drama
The first criminal prosecution of a former president began in earnest with opening statements and testimony in a lower Manhattan courtroom. But the action quickly spread to involve more than half a dozen cases in four states and the nation's capital. Twice during the week, lawyers for Trump were simultaneously appearing in different courtrooms.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.