E-bike battery caused central Edmonton apartment fire: EFRS

Edmonton Fire Rescue Services says an e-bike battery caused an apartment fire that sent one person to hospital.

Edmonton Fire Rescue Services says a fire at a central Edmonton apartment was started by a battery from an e-bike.

On Thursday, fire investigators returned to the scene of an apartment building fire that may have injured one person in the Wîhkwêntôwin neighbourhood on Wednesday evening.

Crews arrived at 10020 115 St. around 5:53 p.m., say Edmonton Fire Rescue Services (EFRS) public information officers.

By around 6:30 p.m., 12 crews had been called to the scene. Submitted video footage shows flames shooting out of a suite on what witnesses believe was the sixth floor.

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A total of 80 people were evacuated, with 20 who were displaced and found housing and 60 who were either able to return to their units or are staying with friends or family, EFRS told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday.

Once outside, 12th-floor resident Kasey Lawrence recounted seeing the flames and, subsequently, two people jumping to escape them.

“I saw one person climb out of the balcony onto the lower one below it to get out. That seemed to be successful,” she said on Wednesday.

“Someone else, I don’t know if they were trying to do the same thing, but they fell from that floor and landed on the roof that covers the driveway. They were carried away on a stretcher.”

EFRS said one person was taken to hospital by EMS but did not confirm any other details or the extent of their injuries.

An Emergency Support Response Team, which works to support people displaced during an emergency or disaster, made its way to the building just before 7 p.m.

Damage is estimated at $500,000.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall