At least seven people were taken to hospital and others rescued from balconies due to a large overnight apartment fire in south Edmonton’s Queen Alexandra neighbourhood.
Fire crews were called to the four-storey building at 10745 79 Ave. just before 1 a.m. Friday.
A spokesperson for Edmonton Fire Rescue Services (EFRS) said the fire appeared to have started in a main-floor unit and quickly moved up the building in the Whyte Avenue area.
One person suffered severe smoke inhalation, the spokesperson said.
“No one can go in right now — the flames came right from floor one, up the balcony,” said Neil Robertson, an assistant deputy chief with EFRS.
He said eight crews responded initially. They had to use ladders to rescue residents from balconies.
Robertson said flames were coming from all sides of the building when fire crews arrived.
On Thursday night, Edmonton police said officers were called to the building to help another agency carry out a court order against a man who had barricaded himself in his suite.
Negotiations with the man had been going on since about 5 p.m., police said in a statement Friday morning.
While police were on scene, a fire broke out in the suite where the man lived, according to police.
The building was evacuated so crews could tackle the flames.
Just after 12:45 a.m. Friday, police said the man was taken into custody.
Robertson said the fire was brought under control around 4 a.m. As the sun came up, the extent of the damage was revealed.
The roof was burnt-through and part of the building has since collapsed.
One of the building’s residents told Global News his mother was taken to hospital in critical condition.
“She has tubes coming out of her (and) she’s unconscious, I can’t really see her right now,” Daniel Olds said.
“It’s scary, I lost everything. My mom could die, my daughter is in the hospital — it’s terrifying.”
“The smoke was so thick, the stairwells were impassable,” said Riley Jagodnik, who lives on the fourth floor. “They got people down on ladders.
“I’m still processing what happened. This kind of thing seems to happen elsewhere.”
Cole Panchyshyn lives across the street from the fire and welcomed about 25 residents fleeing the burning apartment building.
“We had friends over and all of the sudden we looked over and the building was on fire,” he said.
“We got all of our shoes out so people who came out in flip-flops and slippers would have something to wear.”
Edmonton Transit Service buses were brought in to provide shelter for the evacuated residents.
Police have not confirmed if their police investigation at the building was related to the fire.
Police have said they continue to investigate. Fire investigators were at the scene as well.
Dan Jones, chair of the justice studies department at Norquest College, said while details of what exactly happened have yet to be disclosed, “the training for this (scenario) is exceptional.”
“The normal course of treatment wouldn’t be to evacuate the building unless there was a threat of explosives, fire or firearms.”