Flowers lay on the snowy sidewalk outside a townhouse in northeast Edmonton’s Clareview area, where a child died in an overnight fire that also sent their mom and two other kids to hospital.
The blaze at the Clareview Village townhouse complex near 31 Street and 132A Avenue in the Belmont neighbourhood broke out just before 1:30 a.m. Friday.
Resident Alison Saunders stepped outside her home around 1 a.m. when she heard a woman screaming. At first, she didn’t know what to make of the commotion.
“At first I just heard her yelling just ‘help, help, help.’ And then I heard her start yelling louder and said, ‘Help my baby, my baby.'”
“The third time I heard her yell, there was just something in her voice.”
Saunders said she immediately reached for her phone and began dialing 911.
“Then I heard a man’s voice yell, ‘fire. Phone 911.'”
Saunders said the operator told he she was the second person to call about the emergency, and as she was still on the phone with 911 heard help approaching.
“Thank God we’re so close to the fire station. They were literally already coming.”
Multiple fire trucks and police descended upon the complex, including fight firefighting units and five AHS EMS teams. Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said crews arrived two minutes after the first 911 call and got to work.
Global News spoke to several other neighbours in the area who were too upset to appear on camera, but shared what they saw and heard.
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A woman who shares an adjacent wall with the unit where the fire happened woke to banging on her door.
She opened it to see her neighbour outside, face covered in ash and without a coat or winter gear on.
The woman welcomed her neighbour into her home, and other family members followed.
Then firefighters, police and paramedics arrived to assess the family.
The woman said police told her a young child from the unit next door had died, and another had been rushed to hospital. The mother who showed up covered in soot was also taken to hospital.
“It is with the deepest regret that I must confirm that one child died, two children have been transported to hospital — one in critical condition, the other in serious but stable condition — and one adult is in serious, non-life-threatening condition,” Edmonton Fire Rescue Services Chief David Lazenby said Friday afternoon.
“This loss is an absolute tragedy for their family, for our community, and for everyone in our department who responded overnight. We are all deeply affected. Our hearts go out to the family.”
Lazenby said fire crews rescued two children from the home when they arrived on scene but unfortunately, one had already died.
The second child was was treated by firefighters and paramedics, who Lazenby said “demonstrated an incredibly technical response, utilizing multiple EHS resources and advanced life-support interventions.”
That child was rushed to hospital in critical condition by EMS, Lazenby said. Two adults from the property were also treated by EMS, with one going to hospital in serious, non-life-threatening condition.
An area resident named Sarah said the family had moved in a few months ago and mostly kept to themselves.
Those who live in the complex were shaken and upset to learn the news Friday morning. One placed flowers and a teddy bear outside the home.
“I’m just glad we live in a neighbourhood where people respond and we care about each other in this community,” Saunders said.
The fire was declared under control at 1:40 a.m. and out just before 2:30 a.m.
As the sun came up, Edmonton police and fire investigators remained on scene outside the townhouse, where the only sign a fire had taken place was a broken window.
The cause of the fire or extent of the damage is not yet known.
Global News has reached out to Alberta Health Services and the Edmonton Police Service for more information.
More to come…
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