About 200 residents were evacuated after a fire destroyed a condo in southwest Edmonton.
Officials said the blaze began around 2 a.m. Sunday at 119 Street and 21 Avenue.
“They arrived and immediately struck a second alarm,” district chief Dave Matwichuk explained.
Forty minutes later a third alarm was struck, increasing the number of fire fighters on the scene to 85.
Matwichuk described it as a massive fire.
“We had numerous different combustibles – propane tanks, gasoline - they were fueling the fire throughout the whole process throughout the night.
“They were exploding as fire fighters were doing their job.”
Nearby, Jeff Moggach, said he had a bird’s eye view of the fire from his deck.
“Initially what I saw was massive flames, my whole bedroom was illuminated orange.”
Moggach explained that his family prepared to evacuate.
“We did gather the valuables and a couple things that we thought were keepsakes and stuff like that.
“We knew eventually that we would probably get evacuated because the way the fire was spreading it was pretty significant.”
Cody Gaudatte’s family also took precautions against the flames.
“We had the water hose on top of our house so that the ashes wouldn’t catch the house on fire,” he explained.
Residents were evacuated to the Johnny Bright School and the Canadian Red Cross was called in to help.
The organization said it was providing food, hygiene kits and accommodation for 14 people affected by the fire.
Fire crews had the blaze under control by 11 a.m. but remained on scene to deal with hot spots.
There were no injuries reported.
Officials estimated the damage at $17 million but that does not include damage to neighbouring homes.
Fire investigators continue to search for a cause.
With files from Amanda Anderson
