Firefighters responding to a blaze in south Edmonton’s Garneau neighbourhood over the noon hour on Thursday said it appears to be suspicious.
Thick, black smoke could be seen across the city from the blaze near 85 Avenue and 108 Street.
Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said they were called at 11:50 about the blaze at a multi-residential home under construction and the first crews arrived on scene four minutes later.
Crews arrived on scene to find flames shooting from the roof and thick, black smoke pouring into the sky.
It was quickly upgraded to a second-alarm fire to bring in additional crews to help.
The property on fire was a large, multi-family infill being erected on a lot where a post-war single family home used to be. The lot was rezoned in 2025 to allow for medium-scale residential.
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EFRS said the fire was brought under control at 12:36 p.m. and no injuries have been reported. As of just before 2 p.m., crews remained on scene working to fully extinguish the flames.
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Members of the Edmonton Police Service arrived on scene about an hour after the fire broke out.
What caused the fire and the extent of the damage is not yet known, however the Edmonton Fire Rescue Services district chief on scene told Global News police are not called in unless crews suspect the fire is suspicious in nature.
— More to come…
Tweakers, insurance fraud, or infill vigilantes? Who’s taking bets?