Balcony fire forces brief evacuation of downtown Calgary apartment building
Posted Aug 14, 2024 5:23 pm.
Last Updated Aug 14, 2024 5:35 pm.
Around 100 people needed to be evacuated as crews responded to a fire on a balcony in downtown Calgary on Wednesday afternoon.
Fire crews were called to an apartment building om 5 Avenue SW near 8 Street around 4 p.m. for reports of smoke coming from a balcony.
A Calgary Fire Department (CFD) spokesperson confirms crews encountered smoke coming from an upper floor unit. Firefighters made their way to the balcony and were able to quickly extinguish the fire.
Images from the scene show a ladder truck leading to a balcony about seven or eight floors from the ground.
Officials say around 100 residents from the 20 story building were evacuated and have since been allowed back in. The unit where the fire started was unoccupied when crews arrived.
No injuries were reported.
“The fact that it was a concrete building was really fortunate,” says a CFD spokesperson Alistair Robin. “Not a lot of heat damage or spread of fire to other units, but they were impacted by smoke.”
Robin says a piece of furniture caught fire on the balcony. Investigators are still trying to determine the cause.
