The residents of a house in the northeast Calgary community of Cornerstone will be looking for a new place to live after an early morning fire caused serious damage to their home.
Two neighbouring houses also suffered some exterior damage from the smoke and flames.
Calgary Fire Department public information officer Alex Kwan said the call to Corner Gate Place came in just before 6 a.m.
“On arrival, our crews found heavy smoke and flame coming from the back side of the home in the alley. So our crews quickly deployed a large volume hose line and started knocking down the fire,” said Kwan. “They were able to knock that down in the initial home and then made entry to continue fire attack as it possibly got into the roof.”
“We woke up at 4 in the morning and had done a prayer, and after 5:30, suddenly there is a fire alarm,” said home owner Steven D’Souza. “We see fire coming in on the floor and we informed our family to get out of the house.”
“I wasn’t completely asleep when the fire alarm went off,” said neighbour Yousuf Maqusodi. “I checked and there was fire and smoke. I thought this was our neighbour’s house, so I went inside and started yelling (and) telling my family to evacuate.”
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Both D’Souza and Maqusodi praised the efforts of firefighters, saying they arrived within minutes of when 911 was called.
No injuries were reported, but the back of the home where the fire started was badly damaged, and some of the siding on two neighbouring homes appeared to be melted from the heat.
Kwan said an investigator has been called in to try to determine the cause of the blaze.
Asked about whether the recent rupture of the Bearspaw Feeder Main affected firefighters’ access to water and efforts to fight the fire, a situation the City of Calgary has warned about, Kwan said firefighters were able to quickly tackle the fire, limiting the amount of water required.
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