An elderly woman was taken to hospital after a fire in southeast Calgary Wednesday morning.
The Calgary Fire Department said a person was walking in the area of 99 Avenue and 5 Street S.E. in Willow Park at around 11:45 a.m. when they spotted a fire in the basement of a single-family home.
That person called 911 and crews were able to respond quickly.
“Fire crews did encounter a basement fire and did rescue a woman in her 80s from the main floor. She was brought outside, she was unconscious,” CFD spokesperson Carole Henke said.
EMS said the woman was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition.
Ron Spragg is the woman’s son-in-law. He was working in the garage Wednesday morning when he said his dog, Mavi, started barking like crazy.
“As soon as I opened the door I saw smoke. I didn’t think it was from our house and then she started running in circles so I opened the side gate to the house and that’s where I saw the smoke coming out the side,” he said.
Spragg said he tried to get inside, but there was too much smoke.
“I tried to get in the back door and the smoke was so bad. I was on my belly trying to go into the kitchen and I couldn’t get in. I had to come out.”
Spragg ran out to the front of the home and saw that fire crews were already on scene.
Fire crews are grateful to the person who saw the fire and jumped to call 911 immediately.
“We are always so grateful when people right away call 911 versus taking out their phone and taking photos,” Henke said. “The sooner we are made aware of an emergency, the sooner we can respond.”
The cause of the fire is not yet known, but Henke said it appears to have started in the basement.
“We do have an investigator that has suited up and he has gone inside, so the investigation has started. He’s also spoken to several witnesses and people that were on the scene,” Henke said.
Henke said the fire alarms in the home were working, and reminded people to ensure they have working fire alarms.