Apartment fire in west Edmonton does $1.2M in damage, displaces dozens

The roof of an Edmonton apartment building is gone after flames tore through the building on Thursday afternoon.

Firefighters battled a blaze that took part of an apartment roof with it in the west end Thursday evening.

At 6 p.m., 11 crews were either at or arriving at a fire just off Stony Plain Road and 162 Street, according to a city public information officer.

District Chief Paul Brooks said the fire had spread to the back and west side of the building and a balcony before working its way up to an attic. The brunt of the damage was taken by the second and third floors.

“Of course, with these winds we’re having tonight, it got up into the roof, and it drove through really good,” he said.

Despite heavy winds, Brooks says no other buildings were affected and it didn’t appear as though the fire would get very far.

“It’s so difficult everywhere. We have our drone up right now and it’s trying to stay in place. The winds are really pushing.”

“From across the street here, you could really feel the heat. It’s kind of scary. Had ashes blowing in my face,” Josh Elton, who lives across the street, told CTV News Edmonton.

“It’s just a very scary moment for us residents on the block here.”

The first call to emergency services came at 5:34 p.m. It was upgraded to a second-alarm fire 13 minutes later.

The fire was declared under control at 7:19 p.m., and was officially out at 8:19 p.m.

The city’s Emergency Support Response Team helped 40 people displaced by the fire, 31 of them are now being assisted by the Canadian Red Cross.

No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, damage is estimated at $1.2 million.

An accidental cooking fire forced residents out of the same building in 2019.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Brandon Lynch