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Arson suspected in Panorama Hills house fire that forced 6 to flee

Click to play video: 'House fire in Panorama Hills being investigated as suspicious'
House fire in Panorama Hills being investigated as suspicious
WATCH ABOVE: Calgary police arson detectives are heading up the investigation into a devastating house fire that's left a family of six homeless. Tracy Nagai reports – Mar 7, 2017

The Calgary Fire Department says a house fire in the community of Panorama Hills on Tuesday is being investigated as suspicious.

Crews were called to a house in the 200 block of Panamount Court N.W. at around 4 a.m.

When they arrived, firefighters found flames eating away at the roof of the two-storey home.

“The first arriving crews decided to go with an aggressive interior attack,” Battalion Chief Stu Laird said.  “They found that there was fire in the basement as well as upstairs, so at that point they pulled the crews out.

WATCH: Viewer video of the fire in Panorama Hills

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The CFD described damage to the house where the fire originated as “extensive.” One neighbouring home suffered exterior damage.

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Two adults and four children living in the home were able to get out safely after being alerted to the fire by neighbours.

EMS assessed one person at the scene but no injuries were reported.

The temperature was hovering around -15 C when crews began to battle the blaze, and Laird said cold weather does pose some challenges to firefighters.

“One of the challenges when you have this cold weather is once we have water flowing through the lines, we have to continue to keep that water flowing. As soon as we shut it off, those lines will freeze.”

Laird also noted the home was located on a slight hill, which became icy as water from the hoses flowed down the street.

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Anyone with pictures or video of the fire is asked to email them to Public Information Officer Carol Henke at piofire@calgary.ca.

An aerial photo from the Global 1 helicopter shows the damage done to a Panorama Hills home by a fire on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Global News

With files from Doug Vaessen and Tracy Nagai

 

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