Fire that affected more than 100 people in southwest Edmonton 'suspicious': police

Police say a fire in that tore through both occupied homes and unfinished homes in a southwest neighbourhood early Wednesday morning is "suspicious."

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Firefighters were still fighting visible flames at the Enclave Townhomes complex in the Desrochers community as of 8 a.m.

Fourteen fire trucks and three district fire chiefs were called to the scene.

Residents of the Landmark Homes development told CTV News Edmonton some townhomes as well as a multi-unit building, where they believe the fire started, were still being built.

The fire burned the multi-unit project and several townhomes to the ground.

When neighbour Ryan Armishaw woke to yelling around 4:30 a.m., he said he could see smoke billowing from the multi-unit building.

"Smoke was pouring out of it. A couple minutes later the top caught on fire," he recalled.

"(I) went downstairs into the courtyard and by that point – it was just a couple minutes later – flames were shooting out of the building that was on fire like a flame-thrower towards our unit. Well, toward our whole complex. And within minutes everything was up."

Another townhouse resident, Fadi Ammar, added, "(The firefighters) are fast. But within 20 minutes, that building was down."

He was one of the first to realize the project next door was ablaze, having already been awake.

While someone else in his home called 911, Ammar ran to his neighbours.

"(I) screamed at the top of my lungs, 'Fire! Fire! Fire! It's not a drill,'" he told CTV News Edmonton.

The screams of neighbours woke the Raga family. By the time they were out of bed, the fire was "dominating" the multi-unit building, Victoria Raga said.

"I grabbed my family pictures and grabbed my working bag and that's it."

Despite the fire crews' effort to limit the spread of flames, the family's townhouse was one of the more severely damaged units in the complex.

As of 6 a.m., no injuries had been reported and buses had been brought in to keep evacuees warm.

The fire was declared under control at 10:53 a.m.

A cause and damage estimate has not been determined.

Crews were still on scene as of 3 p.m.

The Red Cross says it is assisting 106 people with food, clothing and shelter.

Investigators looking for video

Edmonton Police Service (EPS) says its own investigators, along with Edmonton Fire Rescue Services (EFRS) investigators, determined the fire is suspicious. 

However, an EPS spokesperson said the blaze does not appear "at this time" to be linked to an extortion series targeting local South Asian home builders.

Investigators are looking for home security and dashcam footage.

"Officers will be canvassing the area in the coming days to collect dash camera or home security video footage that was actively recording at 1 a.m. or later on Sept. 18," Det. Chantelle Kortbeek said in a news release. "Anyone with a camera active at this time is asked to please retain that footage and contact police."

In a statement posted to social media, Landmark Homes said while it awaits the results of the investigation, the company is committed to helping displaced residents and will be reaching out to the owners of affected homes. 

"We are deeply saddened in thinking of the impact on our homeowners and community. While we are grateful there have been no reported health concerns or injury at this time, we mourn the loss of personal treasures and we are deeply sympathetic for the interruption this will have." 

The company has turned on of its show homes into a support centre. 

Dr. Anne Anderson High School closed

To help fire crews, police closed the area of 119 Street SW and 35 Avenue SW.

Additionally, Edmonton Public Schools closed Dr. Anne Anderson High School for the day, as its parking lot was used as a staging ground by firefighters.

The school division said families should have received notification through its emergency messaging system.

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