Multiple cars catch fire in south Edmonton parkade

Several vehicles caught fire in an incident at an apartment parkade in south Edmonton on Friday night, prompting an evacuation of a building’s residents.

Crews were called to a building at 24 Avenue and 104 Street at around 10:30 p.m., where witnesses said there were plumes of smoke coming out of the parkade’s third floor.

Officials said Saturday that seven vehicles were destroyed in the fire.

Witnesses also told Global News that they could hear possible explosions coming from the building.

About 50 firefighters were on scene.

“There was heavy black smoke, so it took a while to find the scene of the fire,” said district chief Todd Weiss with Edmonton Fire Rescue Services.

“There was extensive black smoke, and it’s an extremely big parkade. So it did take a while.”

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None of the apartments in the building were affected by the incident, officials said, but nine people were displaced due to smoke-related issues.

Several businesses on the main floor of the building were unharmed.

Investigators are working to determine a cause.