Residents of a northeast Calgary apartment complex are without homes after a powerful early morning explosion and fire tore through the building Monday. Emergency crews were called just after 3:30 a.m. to the five-unit complex on 34 Ave N.E. in the Highland Park neighbourhood, where witnesses say an explosion blew out windows and doors before flames quickly engulfed the structure. Thalia Nimijean-Sandoval lives in one of the units. She was asleep when the blast jolted her awake. “I was sleeping, and I heard a big explosion and our front door was off of its hinges,” Nimijean-Sandoval said. “The whole building the five-plex engulfed in flames in minutes.” Nimijean-Sandoval fled with little more than the clothes she was wearing. “I lost everything. I have two kids and I’m pregnant, and we lost everything, and I’m just in a state of shock,” she said. “I’m trying to get my family to help, but I’m just panicked.” Danika Breckinridge was outside the building moments before the explosion heading home to Medicine Hat. Her mother was still inside waving goodbye when the blast happened. “The windows all (blew) out. It was like a movie,” Breckinridge said. She added she had to yell at her mom to get out of the house as the scene unfolded. “(It was) really terrifying, not gonna lie. I panicked.” Her mother, Trish Harris, was standing near her balcony doors when the explosion struck. “I thought I heard a bang. I don’t know what it was, but and then I felt something, felt like something hit my back,” Harris said. “Then all of a sudden, everything, the doors in front of me go flying out.” Harris said she only realized the scale of the damage after escaping outside. She says the fire robbed her of something more precious than a place to live. “My son just passed away four weeks ago, and so I just picked up all his belongings and his ashes and everything,” she said. “That’s all gone. I have nothing left of him.” At least three of the five units were completely gutted, while the remaining suites were left uninhabitable due to fire, smoke and water damage. One person was taken to hospital with minor smoke inhalation. Everyone else was able to get out safely. EMS assessed three people on scene but none of then required treatment. Fire crews remained on scene throughout the day, knocking down hotspots and searching for clues about what caused the explosion and fire. Investigators have not yet released a cause.
