Fire breaks out at southwest Calgary condo building

Flames and smoke could be seen coming from a condo building in southwest Calgary on Friday afternoon.

According to Calgary Fire Department spokesperson Carol Henke, fire and dark smoke was reported coming from the roof of a five-storey building at 14 Street and 23 Avenue S.W. at about 4:30 p.m.

“The fire is really spreading quickly,” Henke said.

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“We have multiple aerials set up but it is sneaking along the roofline and at this point, we have evacuated the entire building. Fire crews are working very hard at getting a handle on this fire.”

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The CFD said there were no injuries reported as of 5:20 p.m.

“Right now, public safety and making sure everyone is out safely and that there’s no injuries is the first concern, and of course, getting the fire under control,” Henke said.

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A Calgary Transit bus was on scene for evacuees to take shelter, with officials expecting they would be out of the condo building “quite some time.”

Henke didn’t have a total number of people who were forced from their homes, but said firefighters went door to door to make sure everyone was out.

“Typically when you see a significant fire like this, utilities are shut off to the building and it doesn’t make sense for people to be living inside at that point,” she said.

A third alarm was also called to allow for enough bodies for firefighters to be able to switch out as they battle the blaze. Henke said it was too early to tell if the building would be a complete loss.

“The way fire moves, it moves through void spaces and through the roof underneath, so even though you get it out in one spot, it pops up in another spot,” she said. “So it is a struggle sometimes, but we’re using our aerials, so attacking it from above and below as well.”