Firefighters are battling a blaze in the Rapperswill neighbourhood near Castle Downs in north Edmonton Monday afternoon.
Flames were seen coming from a back deck of a home in the area of 122 Street and 168 Avenue just before 3:30 p.m., Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said.
When fire crews arrived, they found a fully involved home.
According to EFRS, there were seven trucks on scene. No injuries were reported.
“We heard the fire truck and then when we looked out, the house was on fire and it was engulfed in no time,” neighbour Farida Wansink said.
“The fire was really big. The smoke was coming out of the ceiling… and the roof kind of collapsed a little bit, and the fire truck was already here.”
Catherine Landry lives nearby and was running errands when she saw a big cloud of black smoke.
“I come around the corner and sure enough, flames are coming through the ceiling, so I pull my car over — very badly — and run out and start banging on doors, calling 911, and within five minutes, fire trucks were here getting their hoses out.
“Luckily the owners of the house got out and got their animals (out) safe as well,” Landry said.
She said she banged on the doors of three homes — the main house and the two on either side.
“I was yelling: ‘There’s a fire! Get out! There’s a fire!’
“I’d hope that if I was in that position and my house was on fire, (or) my neighbour’s house was on fire, someone would go and try to help them out. These are people, they’re our neighbours, they’re our community.”
The fire spread quickly, Landry said.
“The first house was on fire, and within two minutes, the second house was smoking. And maybe a minute later, that second house was up in flames.”
Just before 5 p.m., it appeared the flames had been extinguished but the house destroyed.
“The first house, the main house that caught on fire, it’s gone,” Landry said. “The back of it is completely demolished. The front of it is still standing. And the second house, the entire siding is burned down.”
She said there was a couple and a cat in the first house and several adults and a couple of children in the second house.
“Everyone is safe. Everyone is OK, but it’s just the shock of it all.”
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