Residents of a west Lethbridge apartment building were frantically awoken on Friday morning, as a fire quickly engulfed much of the roof of their building.
Crews arrived at 325 Highlands Boulevard West just before 8 a.m. Chief Marc Rathwell said investigators believe the blaze might have started on a balcony.
“Our early reports said the fire was started on the second floor balcony, and there was a barbeque, propane tanks, those sorts of things,” Rathwell said. “But that’s all speculative at this time.”
Rathwell said the fire quickly spread from the second floor to the third floor and attic, with the roof collapsing soon after.
The fire was contained in about 90 minutes and fully extinguished just after 10 a.m. Thirty-six units were impacted by the blaze.
All residents of the building were safely evacuated with no injuries to report. One firefighter was taken to hospital as a precaution. Rathwell told media the firefighter was in stable condition.
Lethbridge Emergency Social Services workers were on scene to assist residents.
“We know we’ve displaced these folks, due to the fire, so we’re going to take care of them,” Rathwell said. “We bring in Red Cross, we have our ESS folks, we’re going to make sure that we get them on to that path of what the next step is for them.”
Bryan Litchfield of ESS said those evacuated were in relatively good spirits, despite the tragic circumstances.
“We get to the site first and start registering people and getting them organized, and put them in contact with the Red Cross” Litchfield said. “Red Cross will be contacting them shortly to find out their needs, if there’s medical needs, or if they need a place to stay, clothing, that sort of stuff.”
Residents of the building say although the scene was frantic, neighbours were helping make sure everyone got out of the building safely, making the job easier for emergency crews when they arrived on scene.
“We could see the light from the fire.”
Rathwell said he heard from a few people about cases of helpful Samaritans.
“I did have a young gentleman come up to me and say that they had helped effect the rescue of some small children, helping a mom with some kids,” he said.
An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway. The city’s Fire Prevention Bureau asks that anyone with early video of the fire contact them at 403-320-3811 or fireprevention@lethbridge.ca.
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