A downtown Edmonton hotel was evacuated on Wednesday night after a fire broke out near the top of the tower.
Firefighters were called to the Sutton Place Hotel about 10 p.m. after reports of heavy smoke coming from a sauna.
“Our crews arrived at 10:07 and discovered there was a fire on the 27th floor, heavy smoke on the 27th floor,” District Chief Daniel Blackburn said.
A second alarm was declared and more crews called in a few minutes later.
Blackburn said in total, 18 fire trucks and 59 firefighters were deployed to the high-rise hotel on 101 Street between 102A Avenue and 103 Avenue.
The fire was quickly brought under control. At the time, Blackburn wasn’t able to say if the flames started in the sauna, adding fire investigators were called in.
All 118 people staying in the hotel were evacuated, and ETS buses were brought in to keep people warm.
“Fire is an insidious thing — we can’t take any chances with life safety, we don’t want to get anybody injured,” Blackburn said. “There haven’t been any injuries, no people with smoke inhalation — so the safest thing for us to do is to evacuate everyone.”
The cause of the fire is not known.