EDMONTON – Investigators have determined that the massive fire that caused about $20 million in damage to a south Edmonton condo construction site on Sept. 29 was arson.
Investigators with Edmonton Fire Rescue and the Edmonton Police Service have been working for the past month to determine the cause of the blaze, which was one of the costliest fires in Edmonton’s history.
“With evidence that we found at the scene, interviewing witnesses and location of videos and reviewing those videos, they’ve determined that the cause of the fire was arson, deliberately set,” explained Shayne Page, captain investigator with Edmonton Fire Rescue Services.
“We don’t want to release the exact, what was used to light the fire or how it was lit. That’s all under investigation with EPS (Edmonton Police Service),” he added.
Page says the investigation was rather difficult.
“There was a lot of space to cover on the scene itself, and the huge area around there, with the number of people living in condos, it took quite a while.”
It took roughly 80 firefighters more than seven hours to bring the blaze under control, but no one was injured.
Photos: Residents watch as condo building goes up in flames
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Fire crews were called to the massive fire around 2 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 29. The fire began in the building furthest to the east of the construction site, located at 119 St. and 22 Ave. SW. The four-storey complex was in the framing stage of construction.
The heat from the fire damaged the siding of several townhouses across the street from the condo development. Cars on the block also started on fire, but crews extinguished those flames and stopped the fire from spreading.
About 200 residents in the area were forced from their homes and temporarily relocated on the morning of the fire.
Page says arson is a big problem in Edmonton, and have been the number one cause of fire for each of the past 10 years.
“In 2012, I believe there was $20 million worth of fire damage caused by arson. It’s a leading cause of fires within the City of Edmonton and it’s a problem.”
Edmonton Fire Rescue will continue to work with police arson detectives on the file.
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online.
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