Early morning fire prompts evacuation of south side apartment building

170 people displaced after fire An apartment fire Monday morning has left dozens outside of their home tonight. CTV Edmonton’s Matt Woodman is live with the latest.

EDMONTON -- Residents were forced out of a south side apartment building after an early morning fire on Monday.

Dozens of firefighters responded to Strathmore Manor at 2911 109 Street at around 3:30 a.m. after reports of alarms ringing and heavy black smoke.

Officials tell CTV News Edmonton that the fire broke out in a suite on one of the upper floors and spread to the roof.

Travis Kletzel lives in the building. He woke up and saw flames outside his apartment window.

"The first instinct, I said let's just get the heck out of here and leave everything," Kletzel said.

There is extensive water damage and some smoke damage, but the fire was contained to one section of the building. It was considered under control by 3:44 a.m.

According to Edmonton Fire Rescue Services, the damage was limited to a few suites thanks to some well-designed fire breaks.

"Because of building codes, it stopped the fire from spreading into other parts of the structure," said District Chief Todd Weiss with Edmonton Fire Rescue. "It's got three wings to it. You can see the fire was in the centre core because of building technology and fire breaks it stopped it from going to those other three wings."

One firefighter had minor injuries and was taken to hospital. None of the residents reported injuries.

Red Cross is assisting displaced residents.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. According to Edmonton Fire Rescue Services, 170 residents have been displaced by the fire.