One person is dead, two more are missing and several others injured after a vehicle collided with a mixed-use residential and commercial building in north Edmonton.
A gas mainline was hit during the collision, causing an explosion and fire that sent thick plumes of smoke into the sky.
The fatal fire at the building at the corner of 132 Avenue and 82 Street on Monday night is now being treated as a mass casualty event being led by the homicide section, police said in an update Tuesday.
An 85-year-old man jumped from a balcony and was treated by EMS; but died of his injuries on scene.
“Sadly, one individual felt that was the course of action that they needed to take to try and flee a very dangerous situation, and tragically that was the individual who succumbed to their injuries,” said fire chief David Lazenby.
“It was a very aggressive fire that was fuelled by the gas line and as such, there was no way out other than forward — and sadly, that was the path that they took.
“Despite the best efforts of the first responders on scene who rendered first aid immediately, that poor soul succumbed to their injuries.”
Two people remain unaccounted for, Edmonton police chief Warren Driechel said in a Tuesday update.
“Due to the significant structural damage caused by the fire, it may take a considerable amount of time before emergency services can access the building to locate unaccounted for residents and pets who may have perished in the fire,” Driechel said.
The police chief added just because two people are unaccounted for, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re in the gutted structure.
“It’s obviously been a very chaotic scene. I think there’s a lot of misinformation out there,” he said. “We’re trying to determine who maybe was left in the building — were there other people in that building that we don’t know about?”
“I think the unfortunate part is, given the way it is right now — the instability of the structure — it’s likely that investigators won’t be able to enter that place for at least 48 other hours.”
Driechel asked the public to be patient as firefighters complete their difficult task of ensuring the building is is safe.
“We will endeavor to commence our on-scene work as soon as we can.”
Six residents were treated and transported by EMS to hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
The 62-year-old man driving the vehicle was amongst them, and was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, where he remained Tuesday in stable condition.
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Edmonton Fire Rescue Services crews were dispatched at 9:19 p.m. Monday to a three-storey residential building at the corner of 132 Avenue and 82 Street, which has commercial businesses on the ground floor and two levels of residential above.
The vehicle hit the backside of the building, rupturing a main gas line that caused an explosion and fire which quickly began spewing thick, black smoke that could be seen from several parts of the city.
“The damage to the gas main created a complex situation that required careful handling to ensure safety during the shutdown process,” Lazenby said.
“It took approximately two-and-a-half hours to isolate, which has resulted in a temporary loss of gas supply to around 1,800 customers in the area.”
Firefighters arrived at 9:23 p.m. and the blaze was immediately upgraded to a second-alarm fire.
Eleven fire crews, or about 44 firefighters, responded and evacuated the building at 13126 82 St. in the Killarney neighbourhood.
Between eight and 10 ambulances also responded and were seen waiting at the scene to treat patients.
There were believed to be at least 35 people living in the 16-suite building. The Red Cross is helping 21 displaced residents, police said, adding the remaining residents were reportedly not in the building at the time but haves since been accounted.
There were four businesses on the ground level of the complex.
On Monday evening, all hospitals in the Edmonton region were put in standby for a Code Orange, which is activated when an incident generates more casualties than available emergency department or urgent care resources can manage under regular conditions.
However, Alberta Health Services said while hospitals were prepared for a potential increase in patients, the Code Orange didn’t end up being declared and the standby was called off late Monday night.
Lazenby said it was a complex fire that took crews nearly three hours to bring under control, which happened at 12:02 a.m. Tuesday.
Firefighters worked through the night and into Tuesday putting out hot spots.
“Our fire crews remain on scene at this time to ensure all hot spots are fully extinguished and to support the ongoing investigation with our EPS colleagues,” he said Tuesday afternoon.
The public was asked to stay away from the destroyed building so crews could keep working uninterrupted.
“The building has sustained extensive damage with the main floor commercial spaces and upper floor residential suites heavily compromised,” Lazenby said.
EPS said the homicide team is leading the mass casualty investigation because they have the skills most needed in this situation.
“Due to the complexity of it and the size and scope scale of the investigation, it naturally defaults by policy to our homicide team because they have the experience in doing major case investigations and being methodical in these cases. So within our policy, that’s where it sits,” Driechel said.
Edmonton police closed 82 Street between 137 Avenue and Yellowhead Trail in all directions as officers and emergency crews responded to a collision and fire in the area.
Motorists were asked to avoid the area and use alternate routes.
Hopefully the missing are just out of town.
Sad, what was the vehicle doing when it hit the building – 100 mph? Look at google earth and there is no sign of gas line, so they were all inside the building somewhere. Sorry for those affected, building is a complete write off.
Fire is understated, it exploded.