Massive plumes of black smoke stained the sky in Calgary on Tuesday evening as fire crews responded to an industrial fire in northeast community of South Airways. Fire crews were called to the blaze in the 3000 block of 16 Street N.E. at CSI EPC just after 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening. Billowing black smoke from the building could be seen from downtown Calgary. Fire crews on site appeared to be attacking the blaze on the roof, and about five or six fire trucks are on scene with EMS standing by. Alex Kwan, the fire department’s public information officer, told CTV News fire crews arrived on site to discover a number of workers who had been on the roof of the building when the fire started. They had self-evacuated before firefighters arrived. “There’s no injuries to any of them,” Kwan said, adding that firefighters confirmed the building itself was empty when they arrived and all the businesses were closed for the day. Fire crews remain on scene spraying hot spots with water to make sure it is fully extinguished. Kwan said the fire, which originated in the roof, burned into the and damaged some of the trusses. A fire investigator is on scene to determine the cause of the blaze. ‘Just chaos’ The fire also attracted a number of spectators around the area. Ali Talitohme and Omar Hossain were walking in the area on Tuesday evening when they saw the black smoke in the sky. “It was just chaos,” Hossain told reporters at the scene. “I was just telling people to get away. I’d never seen (anything like) that before in my life.” Talitohme said he saw flames that were shooting 12 feet in the air. “It’s pretty eventful, especially in Calgary today,” he said. — with files from Mason DePatie.
