Six people who live in the southwest Calgary community of Glamorgan have to find another place to stay after a fire tore through their homes.
The fire broke out at around midnight and crews say the fire was so intense that seven neighbouring homes had to be evacuated as a precaution.
Carol Henke, public information officer with the Calgary Fire Department, says they got the call shortly before midnight for a fire in Glamorgan.
"There are four occupants that got out safely and we are very thankful. Neighbours as well escaped safely. As soon as fire crews arrived, they called a second alarm due to the amount of smoke and fire involved."
Henke says that the fire spread very quickly. "Fire doubles in size approximately every 30 seconds and, depending on the fire load, it can grow even more quickly. You can imagine how quickly a fire can grow from something small to something large. Especially outside, they seem to grow very quickly."
Two homes sustained severe damage in the fire and the six people who live there won’t be able to go home for some time.
Mona Quinnel, who lives in one of the affected homes, returned a few hours after the fire was put out and says she initially thought the fire was across the street, but soon learned differently.
"I came down the hall of my house and saw the flames getting my house."
Realizing the situation, she quickly got her dogs and her son, and got out of the house.
Quinnel's main concern now is the contents of her home. "I just hope that nothing's been taken out of the house, because they've got the doors open."
She says her home recieved a lot of water damage. "Probably two bedrooms gone completely. All the furniture will be full of smoke."
Luckily, she has fire insurance, but is concerned because she is a senior citizen. "Now we got to find some place to live. We're glad everyone's okay and everyone got out of there."
Quinnel says the neighbouring home was rented and she doesn't know the occupants.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
"Cause and origin is still under investigation," Henke says. "We want to look at all the avenues. Once the investigation is complete, then we can release that and hopefully we can educate people to prevent this from happening in the future."
