Calgary fire investigators are trying to determine the cause of an early morning house fire in the community of Falconridge that killed one man and sent a woman to hospital with serious injuries.
The fire broke out around 4:20 a.m. inside a single-storey home on Falwood Place N.E., the Calgary Fire Department (CFD) said.
When firefighters arrived, visible flames and smoke were coming from the house.
A man and two dogs were found outside the home but fire crews were told two other people were still inside.
“We were able to get a quick knock down,” said CFD battalion chief Jordan Wiebe. “There were three occupants of the house — one was able to self extricate and then two more occupants were found by our crews and brought out and passed on to EMS.”
A woman was rushed to hospital in serious condition and a man was found in cardiac arrest. Despite CPR efforts of paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The cause is still under investigation, but “it looks like the fire started on the inside of the house in the bedroom,” said CFD spokesperson Carol Henke, adding, “it’s unknown if the house had working smoke alarms.”
“Given the time of the morning, most people are sleeping. That’s why smoke alarms are so incredibly important because even in that deep sleep, the loud sound will wake you up,” said Henke.
“When a fire takes hold, you literally just have a couple of minutes to get out safely before you’re overcome. The most dangerous part of any structure fire is the smoke,” said Henke. “I’ve been to fires where the fire basically burnt itself out and used up all the oxygen in the room and the room is filled with smoke — but you can’t tell from the outside necessarily that there was even a fire there. It’s the smoke that is so dangerous and so deadly.”
The house is considered a complete loss, but fortunately, there does not appear to be any damage to neighbouring homes.
CFD is asking anyone with photos or video of the fire, especially prior to firefighters’ arrival, to contact them at piofire@calgary.ca.