Edmonton fire crews were called out around 5 a.m. on Thursday to a blaze in the old Jasper Place Hotel, located at 15326 Stony Plain Rd.
Responding firefighters kept a steady stream of water on the flames and smoke billowing out of the windows of the abandoned hotel.
Large pools of water also began forming on the streets and sidewalks around the burning building.
Edmonton police were also called in to block off several streets in the area and people were asked to avoid Stony Plain Road to give emergency crews room to work.
“It has been a challenging fire due to the temperatures today,” said Jay Kilgannon, district chief with Edmonton Fire Rescue Services.
Get breaking National news
Morning temperatures in Edmonton were in the low -20s and only warmed to about -16 C in the afternoon, not including the windchill.
“Just trying to keep crews warm and rotating our crews through so that everybody stays safe.”
- Danielle Smith promises Alberta referendum over immigration, Constitution changes
- Real Canadian Superstore fined for ‘misleading’ Product of Canada displays
- ‘No reason to continue discussing’: Ontario mayor wants Andrew’s name dropped
- Canadian Tire says Triangle Rewards are its ‘linchpin’ for growth
The age of the wood in the building and the layout also proved to be a challenge.
‘It’s quite a large building and the fire was quite advanced when we got here so it’s been challenging. We’ve got to keep our hoses flowing. If we leave them too long, they freeze up, and then it takes a long time to set up a new line. So keeping our hoses flowing, and rotating our crews so that our guys aren’t getting frostbite, that kind of thing,” Kilgannon added.
The hotel previously caught fire in December of 2019 while there were still 41 people living in it.
The damage from that fire resulted in it being declared unfit for human habitation by Alberta Health Services.
Since then, the building has been blocked off by construction fencing.
Some of the building materials were also confirmed to contain asbestos that was damaged by the fire.
So far there’s no word on the cause of Thursday’s fire, but firefighters confirm damage to the building is so extensive it will need to be torn down.
Hope the fire investigators check the building owners insurance