West Edmonton residents wake up to 'flames shooting up' from residential construction project

A fire ripped through a construction project in west Edmonton early Thursday morning.

Glenwood residents told CTV News Edmonton they woke up around 4:30 a.m. to a roaring blaze.

"My dog was going crazy, so I looked to see what he was looking [at] and there were flames shooting up," Lori Thom recalled. 

Flames consume a construction project in west Edmonton in the early morning of July 6, 2023. (Evan Klippenstein/CTV News Edmonton)

"You could hear it more than anything," she added, mimicking the sound of the flames. "Like a tornado, almost."

"My sister called me up. She said, 'Fire! Fire!' It's scary," said Jane Ngo, a woman who lives across the street.

"I walked outside and [it was] so bright."

Firefighters received the first 911 call at 4:53 a.m. and were on scene at 15812 100A Ave. NW within five minutes. According to the development permit hung outside one of the buildings, Michael Homes Inc. was building row housing at the address.

By that time, flames had consumed two buildings. Ash fell from the sky as CTV News Edmonton arrived. 

Flames consume a construction project in west Edmonton in the early morning of July 6, 2023. (Evan Klippenstein/CTV News Edmonton)

"Right away when the crews came out, they upgraded to a second alarm," acting fire district chief Brad Tilley told CTV News Edmonton.

"They did a really good job of covering the exposure so it didn't spread to other places and we got water on it quick."

The blaze was declared under control in 45 minutes. 

A firefighter on a ladder sprays water on a fire at 15812 100A Avenue NW the morning of July 6, 2023. (Evan Klippenstein / CTV News Edmonton)

In total, about 40 firefighters were called to help.

No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

DAYCARE NEXT DOOR DAMAGED 

Alder Academy, an Indigenous child-care facility next door, sustained some damage, but nothing that would keep it closed for more than a day or two, Tilley expected.

A firefighter sprays water on a fire at 15812 100A Avenue NW the morning of July 6, 2023. Damage sustained by Alder Academy, an Indigenous child-care facility, next door is visible. (Evan Klippenstein / CTV News Edmonton)

"Right now, it's just a matter of waiting for insurance adjustors and fire inspector to come and make sure that everything is safe, replace what needs to be replaced. I'm hoping within a week we'll be able to reopen," executive director Sue MacLean told CTV News Edmonton later that morning.

About 60 families use the facility, which offers programming to kids with speech difficulties or social anxiety, she said.

"The biggest fear for me was that children or staff would have been in the program at the time and the trauma or anything that could have happened to those young children," MacLean added.

"That it's only material things is much better than children having to suffer through that." 

A fire destroyed two buildings under construction, as seen in this aerial photo, and damaged a next-door daycare near 158 Street and 100A Avenue in the early morning of July 6, 2023. (Cam Wiebe / CTV News Edmonton)

Among the children who go to Alder Academy is Willow, whose mom Sameena Khan saw smoke high in the sky as she drove to the west end to drop her daughter off.

"I saw the fire trucks and the burned house, obviously, and I was hoping that the daycare would be OK, but now being able to see some of the damage in the play area just over there, it's scary – because what if this happened during the day while kids were actually here?" 

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