Two men died in a Calgary house fire in the community of Glenbrook on Wednesday, while two escaped unharmed.
The Calgary Fire Department says it received multiple calls about a residence in the 2800 block of 41st Street Southwest having heavy smoke coming from the basement window at around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.
A neighbour who saw the fire entered the home and pulled a resident out onto the lawn and began performing CPR.
“It is just incredible that someone put themself in danger to help someone else,” CFD public information officer Carol Henke told Global News. “We know that house fire smoke is so incredibly toxic. Just a couple breaths render you incapable of self-rescuing.
“It really is incredible what these folks did.”
As firefighters arrived, some took over CPR, while others “began an aggressive interior attack” and searched the home for any remaining people, Calgary fire said.
The CFD said firefighters located another individual in the basement of the home, who was quickly removed and given to awaiting AHS crews.
Two individuals self-evacuated from the building and were cleared by AHS on scene.
Calgary fire confirms that the two men were living in the basement suite of the home. They both died from their injuries.
Late Wednesday morning, fire officials said it appeared the fire had started in the living room area within the basement and the fire was not considered suspicious.
An investigation is in progress but no cause of fire has been determined.
The Calgary Fire Department would like to remind Calgarians to have at least two escape routes from their home and a meeting place to confirm all members of the home have gotten out safely. It also recommends having working smoke detectors on all floors of a house.
If anyone has any photos or videos of the fire before fire crews arrived, please email them to piofire@calgary.ca.
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