A house in central Edmonton was extensively damaged by fire early Friday afternoon.
Fire crews were called to the blaze at a fourplex in the area of 98 Street and 81 Avenue at around 12:50 p.m.
Flames and heavy smoke could be seen shooting from the roof of the home shortly after 1 p.m.
Ariyanna Callihoo lives in one of the suites and had just gotten out of the shower when the fire broke out.
“I came downstairs to check my laundry and the whole back porch, the wooden porch, was on fire. All you could see was fire outside,” she said.
She grabbed her roommate, her purse and ran out of the house.
“All I knew is we had to get out of there before it started burning inside the house, and it did,” she explained. “The window broke and the fire was coming in.”
Callihoo doesn’t know how the fire started but believes it started at a neighbouring suite.
“I’m hoping my stuff doesn’t burn down because I don’t have anything more than I have in that house,” she said.
“My whole life. I don’t really know what to do now. I’m kind of shocked, can’t comprehend what’s going on. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do. Everything I own is in there. My whole life is in there.”
Acting fire chief Frank Matovinovic said six crews were called in to fight the fire, which made its way into the attic. Flames could also be seen coming through a second-floor window of the house.
Watch below: A home just east of Whyte Avenue was extensively damaged by fire Friday afternoon. Sarah Kraus has the details.
Crews were able to keep the fire contained to one house.
“It did self-vent at one time and there was a chance that it might have affected adjacent structures,” Matovinovic said. “We got on it—the crews got on it real quick—knocked that down, so luckily we saved any of that from happening.”
The extent of the damage is not known.
“It’s too early to tell. It might not be a total loss but it’s significantly impacted.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
A couple of GoFundMe pages have been set up to help the tenants, including Callihoo and her roommates, who did not have tenant insurance.
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