Nearly two dozen people and nearly as many pets have been left without a home after a fire gutted the inside of an apartment building just off Stony Plain Road in the west end.
Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said it received a call just after 5 p.m. Wednesday about an apartment on fire in the Canora neighbourhood.
Crews arrived at 5:09 p.m. to find heavy smoke billowing out of the third floor of Lyndon Court (10131 152 St.), a three-storey walk-up apartment building.
But when firefighters went inside and checked all the suites, there was plenty of smoke — but no fire.
“We could smell the smoke and then figured out it was on the third floor, in the walls between the second and third floor,” Edmonton fire district Chief Darren Stolk said on Wednesday night.
Then, the hunt was on.
“We tried for an hour-and-a-half to catch up to it in the walls between the second and third floor,” he said.
Firefighters used thermal imaging camera and hooks to pull down walls and ceilings that Stolk said were thick and built with fire-resistant products.
“Every time we’d open up some, there’d be more smoke and fire,” Stolk said, adding there were five recon crews working in different spots, trying to catch up to the flames hiding inside walls and ceilings, to no avail.
“We were trying to get through two thicknesses of drywall from the second floor, chasing it all around, eventually got in the wall and throughout the whole floor, (but) with the risk of the firefighters, we pulled out an hour-and-a-half later.”
At that point, the flames spread up to the attic, making it too dangerous for firefighters to stay inside. A second-alarm fire was then called, and more crews were called in to help.
At the peak of the blaze, there were 14 crews, or approximately 56 firefighters, on scene.
Stolk said crews rescued at least 15 cats in the building, where he said all 22 residents were able to get out safely.
Laura Richer lives across the street from Lyndon Court and has friends in the building. She went outside and watched as the flames quickly spread into the middle of the building.
“I’ve got three friends that were on the third floor and I was just worried about them,” Richer said.
Evacuated residents were crying and scared, not knowing what would happen to their homes.
Being a cat lover herself, Richer went back inside her place to grab some carriers and handed them over for rescued pets to be safely put in.
“I gave out two cat kennels for cats, because with some cats they didn’t know where they belonged,” Richer said. Some guinea pigs were also rescued by firefighters, and Richer said she took those pets into her own suite so they wouldn’t freeze.
The city’s emergency support response team was activated to provide assistance to the 22 residents displaced by the fire. Richer said buses were brought in for people to warm up in.
The Canadian Red Cross said it was also supporting individuals impacted by the fire, providing lodging, food, clothing and other necessary supports.
The fire burned throughout the night, and fresh crews arrived in the morning to take over the fight.
“It’s become a very stubborn fire,” said Brian Williams, the district chief who took over on Thursday morning. “It gets into the tar and there’s multiple layers on the roof.
“So now it’s a very, very stubborn fire.”
From the ground on Thursday morning, the building looked fairly intact and untouched aside from some blown-out windows.
But from the air, a gaping hole could be seen in the middle of the roof, revealing inside flames and gutted apartments.
“It’s hidden, it’s a deep fire and making it difficult. So the only time we get to see it is when it pokes its head out,” Williams said.
Crews faced challenges that included large trees and power lines in the way of ladder trucks getting to the right spots, along with heavy smoke and wind. Cooler overnight temperature also led to ice that needed to be watched out for.
“We’ve got slips and falls and that type of thing, not just for us but also for the residents around here,” Williams said.
The fire was just declared under control at 9:19 a.m. Thursday and there have been no reported injuries at this time.
Fire crews remained on scene into the day working to get the blaze extinguished.
An excavator was brought in Thursday evening, when it knocked down walls while firefighters continued to spray water on hot spots.
After the flames are out, fire investigators will try and determine a cause.