CALGARY- Tenants in a southwest apartment building were still shaking hours after an early morning fire in the 800 block of Glenmore Trail.
Firefighters arrived at the scene just before 4:30 a.m. to find thick black smoke and flames coming from a unit in the four-storey building.
After residents were alerted to the blaze by fire alarms, several were forced to jump from balconies to escape.
“I ran to the balcony and I heard a woman screaming,” said one tenant who wants to remain anonymous. “I saw hands sticking out the window in front of the awning. ‘Yup, time to jump, time to jump’ and that’s what we did. Five of us jumped from the second floor. I have back injuries and adrenaline is keeping me standing right now.”
Another resident described how other tenants came to his aid.
“There were people throwing things at my window to get out of the building,” said John Matthew. “I got out as quick as I could. I opened door two minutes later and couldn’t see nothing coming down the hall, couldn’t see a darn thing.”
Firefighters and police officers had to carry several people to safety.
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“We had a number of mobility impaired occupants assisted by CPS moving through snow and water to get them to warm areas,” said Al Magwood of the Calgary Fire Department.
No injuries were reported but one person was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
Calgary police took a man and a woman in for questioning; one of them has since been released.
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