Sunday morning fire in Leduc displaces 3 families, knocks out power

Three families have been displaced by a fire in Leduc early Sunday morning.

The RCMP said an officer on patrol saw a fire at a construction site on 48 Avenue and 50 Street around 1 a.m.

The officer reportedly went door-to-door alerting neighbours, and several homes were evacuated.

"We heard a really big bang and then mom came and woke us up. We went outside and we saw that house on fire and then the duplex on fire," said Brayden Mourits, who lived in the area.

"It was crazy. I was kind of scared too, scared like another explosion would happen or something, because the big bang," he said.

A fire broke out at a residential construction site on Sunday morning in Leduc. (Source: Matt Burry)Officials say a power pole in the back alley caught fire and knocked out power to several other homes in the area. Crews were still working to restore those services into Sunday afternoon.

Four homes were damaged or destroyed in the fire, including Gavin Dhaliwal's. Sunday, he and his family salvaged what they could from their home.

"Everything is destroyed. Nothing survived," Dhaliwal said. "We just got what we could get, we got our cat and then we came outside."

A duplex next to their house was also destroyed. All three families will have to move out for the time being.

Deputy Chief Scott MacDonald of Leduc Fire Services said the building where the fire started was in the early stages of construction, with just a frame and no siding.

"Those tend to flare up pretty good and create a lot of embers. It was windy last night as well, that accounts for the spread," MacDonald said.

RCMP are working with fire investigators to determine the cause of the fire. It's a process that will take time, MacDonald said.

"Just because of the size and nature of where it started, probably in that commercial building," he added. "We’re going to have to sift through it to find some answers.”

Residents of the neighbourhood told CTV News Edmonton the building was going to be a daycare.

MacDonald said it's not known at this time if the fire is suspicious.