A woman has died in a house fire on the west end Thursday afternoon, Edmonton police confirmed.
Residents living in the Jasper Park neighbourhood said they were alerted to the blaze when they heard what sounded like an explosion.
“I heard a loud bang -- it sounded like gunfire. And it was like, my whole house shook so I came running over here,” Erik Whiteside said. “When I got here, there was a big cloud of smoke and the whole front of the house blew out.”
Edmonton firefighters are investigating to determine if there was an explosion.
They arrived on scene at 4:30 p.m. and rescued the woman from the home and found no other people inside.
“It was an intense fire and it did cause significant damage to the home,” District Fire Chief Daniel Blackburn said.
Police told CTV News the woman has since died from her injuries and next of kin is being notified.
A dog also perished in the flames and a cat is missing from the home.
Officials are investigating the cause of the fatal blaze.
