Two houses that were engulfed in flames in Calgary’s Legacy neighbourhood on Sunday are being investigated as arson.
Police said emergency crews responded to the homes, one occupied and one under construction, in the 200 block of Legacy Mount S.E. at around 2:25 p.m.
One person left the house before crews arrived, officials said.
The Calgary Fire Department said that a second alarm was called to get enough resources on scene.
The CFD added that as of 5 p.m., crews were still battling hot spots.
Larry Zaleschuk has lived in the area for five years, and said he called 911 when he saw the heavy smoke.
“I was in my living room and all of a sudden, I saw a plume of black smoke and I thought that was quite unusual because it was kind of large,” he said.
“The smoke just kept on pouring out.
“It was really moving when you were standing there watching someone’s house going up in flames… To see that is really heartbreaking.”
Witness Brad Smith moved into the neighbourhood last week, and said he was lucky his house wasn’t affected.
Battalion Chief Alistair Robin said the roof of the under-construction house impinged on another home’s roof.
“The house under construction has burnt to the ground, right to the foundation, and the second house suffered quite extensive damage,” he said.
There were no injuries, according to police.
ATCO was there to control the utilities involved, the CFD said.
Another fire
At around 3:20 p.m., firefighters that were already on scene in the area responded to a basement fire just down the block. Robin said crews extinguished it before it got into the structure of the home.