A scary scene in the southeast Calgary neighbourhood of Mahogany Thursday afternoon (Nov. 21, 2024) following reports of an explosion that sent a wall of flames, black smoke and burning debris into the sky.
Calgary Fire Department spokesperson, Carol Henke, said there were multiple calls made to 911 shortly after 3:00 p.m.
When fire crews arrived they discovered a row of eight connected townhomes with one of the homes “definitely destroyed.”
CFD battalion chief Scott Cowan told Global News, “there was a collapsed structure and a large fire burning with debris thrown quite some distance across the street
Photos provided to Global News show a wall of flames coming from what appears to be a collapsed townhouse in the community of Mahogany.
Neighbours reported hearing a loud bang that shook their houses, then flames coming from the top of a townhouse that appeared to have had the roof blown off.
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“Certainly with the debris across the street and the structure looking the way it does, being reduced to rubble, that is consistent with an explosion,” said Cowan.
While Cowan said it doesn’t appear anyone was inside the home at the time, one firefighter and one worker from the scene were assessed by paramedics and released.
One other person was taken to a nearby urgent care facility with what EMS says were minor injuries.
Videos and photos provided to Global News showed a wall of flames coming from one of the homes, which appeared to have collapsed.
Cowan said several other damaged townhomes had to be evacuated, affecting a “significant number” of people and the fire continued to burn until emergency crews could shut off utilities.
“There was a natural gas line that had broken off and was on fire from the explosion, so it was being fed by the natural gas,” said Cowan. “Once we got that shut off it had to bleed down, so the fire was burning for quite some time.”
Investigators are still trying to determine the cause.
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