Crews were battling an apartment fire in south Edmonton that sent three people to hospital Monday afternoon, one in critical condition.
Edmonton Fire Rescue Services was called at 12:53 p.m. and crews arrived at 23 Avenue and 119 Street five minutes later.
“When we arrived, we had lots of smoke, visible flame and some really panicked people,” District Fire Chief Ed Pitman said. “There was a person trapped in the suite.
“The first arriving crew went in, did fire attack and rescued the patient who was transported to hospital.”
That person, who was initially trapped before being rescued and treated by EMS, was in critical condition, Pitman said.
“The second resident of the suite was out and was also transported as non-critical. We transported one other patient from the building who was non-critical also.”
Roughly 30 firefighters were at the scene, along with four or five EMS units were on scene and the power company. Emergency crews had blocked off traffic access to the area.
“I came downstairs and I saw big flames of fire,” said Purvesh Pathak, who lives across street. “It was the first floor. Within five minutes, they put it out.
“I saw one person. He was burned for sure. I’m not sure how his condition is… but it looked pretty scary at that time.”
The Featherstone complex appeared to be a three-storey residential building. Pitman said the fire appears to have started on the main floor patio area but spread into the suite and then up to the second floor.
Pitman said once the fire is out, other residents will be allowed back in. There are two suites that will be uninhabitable.
“I was just sitting inside and I heard people yelling outside,” Judi Hubbard said. “Then my girlfriend called me and said that there was a fire out here and I just ran out and immediately called 911.
“I saw the woman that’s living in the lower suite walking around outside and she was hysterical, so I just kind of grabbed her and pulled her away from the fire and sat with her until everybody came.”
While Hubbard got out quickly, the situation was quite scary, she said.
“We came out here just as it was starting… It was really big down in the lower suites.”
Click here to view“I could smell smoke but put it off to someone outside, barbecuing maybe, and then one of the guys from another building who had seen the fire was going around hammering on windows and doors, telling people to get out and there was a fire,” said resident Travis Maloney.
“I just kind of felt helpless. What do you do except stand there and watch things burn and wait?
“It’s quite extensive,” Maloney said. “It’s a pretty big mess over there.”
As of 3 p.m. there was no confirmed cause or damage estimate.
The fire is not considered suspicious.