Explosion at Calgary distillery: No injuries

An explosion occurred in a distillery in southeast Calgary, according to the city’s fire department.

Firefighters received the explosive call at around 1:20 p.m. and headed to Alberta Distillers Limited, located on 34 Avenue.

Carol Henke with the Calgary Fire Department says two firefighters noticed the flames from the building as their headquarters are not that far away from the distillery.

“I don’t know if they heard anything, but they definitely saw something and then went back into 16 Station to alert the crew,” Henke said.

Calgary fire arrived and found the fire suppression system within the building worked as intended, which led to them easily controlling the fire.

Henke says no injuries were reported, and one employee was inside the building called the “dry house area,” where the explosion happened, but they got out safely.

“The rest of the employees … were evacuated as well, and I’ve been told that they have been sent home for the day,” she said. One-hundred employees were evacuated.

Currently, Calgary fire is on standby as the distillery’s suppression system is “working at extinguishing any hotspots.”

“I’m not familiar with the particulars of their system, but it worked as it was supposed to. So that’s the good news,” Henke said.

She adds the roof area where a “large vessel and some duct work” were damaged in the explosion.

There is no word on the costs of the damages.

Fire investigators are on the scene looking for the cause of the explosion.

The Calgary Fire Department asks anyone with photos or video of the explosion to email piofire@calgary.ca.

-With files from Mark Strashok