There was a brutal outcome to a house fire in the south community of Allendale early Friday.
Flames were seen by Edmonton Fire Rescue Services firefighters when they arrived at the home on 6106 106 St. just after midnight.
Edmonton Police Service was already at the scene when fire crews arrived and by 12:25 a.m., the call was upgraded to a second-alarm fire — bringing more firefighters to the scene to meet the demands of the blaze.
EFRS said it was first reported as a basement fire but when emergency crews arrived, the flames had spread to the upper floor as well.
EFRS Acting District Chief Darren Stolk told 630 CHED that four cats were killed in the fire.
Everyone in the house escaped, though Stolk said one person was hospitalized with unknown injuries.
Stolk added it was a tough blaze to tackle due to frigid temperatures and the size of the flames that were spewing from the house.
“Sectoring with searches, not knowing if people were out of the home or not — we had to send crews in and search the whole home,” Stolk said.
At the time of the fire, the city of Edmonton was under an extreme cold warning with temperatures hovering around -25 Celsius.
A total of 11 fire crews worked to get the fire under control by 1 a.m., with the fire officially declared out by 4:38 a.m.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Damages are estimated to be about $300,000.
–with files from David Boles, 630 CHED