One home that was being built in the new northeast Calgary community of Cityscape was destroyed in an early morning fire on Wednesday.
Fire crews were called to the scene at about 3:30 a.m. in the new development called Cityscape, near Metis Trail.
Crews called a third alarm as soon as they arrived, eliciting a huge response from the CFD.
The home collapsed as crews were setting up.
The fire was brought under control after a number of hours fighting the flames and the bitter cold.
Two adjacent homes were severely damaged by the original fire but it is unclear yet on if they will need to be demolished.
Six other homes suffered heat damage on the siding that will need to be repaired.
No one was living in the area when the fire broke out, but 12 homes in a neighbouring community had to be evacuated, affecting about 60 people there.
No one was injured in the fire.
Fire officials say crews had a hard time battling the fire because of the cold temperatures.
"Definitely the cold weather makes it more difficult, more complicated. We need to rotate crews out more quickly because of the water that ends up on their SCBAs and their duty gear," said Carol Henke, the public information officer with the Calgary Fire Department.
"We need to make sure they are kept warm and can function. So that's why it was upgraded to a third alarm to call those additional resources and firefighters so that a rotation can happen more frequently."
Jotham Bose, who lives in one of the homes nearby, is glad that no one was hurt.
He told CTV that he got out of his house even before firefighters came to his door.
"I woke up because it was really bright out and I actually thought I had missed my alarm clock. I looked out and saw the flames and thought it was the house next to mine."
Bose said that he saw flames all over the house when he went outside.
Fire crews are looking for hot spots and making sure that no other homes were affected.
There is no estimate on the cost of damages at this time.
