1 dead after early morning fire in Bowness: Calgary Fire Department

A 75-year-old man is dead after a two-alarm fire ripped through a multi-unit residential building in northwest Calgary Thursday morning.

No other occupants or firefighters were injured in the blaze at a three-storey, nine unit, multi-family home in the 4300 block of 73 Street N.W., officials say.

Residents told CTV News they were alerted just before 5 a.m. that smoke was billowing out of the structure as flames engulfed one side of the building.

At least one of the residents says she was told to leave the building by a passerby who was knocking in her door, warning her of the flames.

Fire crews arrived on scene a short time later.

"Crews were able to immediately get water on the fire from the outside and then quickly move to the interior to extinguish the fire that was in a lower suite," said Calgary Fire Department Battalion Chief Keith Stahl.

At one point, a tree in the yard was ignited by the radiant heat and then spread fire to the roof and attic area.

"We had five people that were outside on arrival with no injuries, and upon further search, we did find that we had one male deceased within the structure."

He could not say what caused the fire.

"It does not look suspicious at this time, but we do have arson and fire investigators on the scene."

Patricia Burton, a neighbour from across the street, told CTV News the response from the fire department woke her household up.

"I woke up to my dogs barking so I looked out the window and I saw the flames coming out the side in the back of the house. The trees were going up [in flames] and there were maybe two trucks here at the time," she recalled.

"I was quite surprised because I thought it was our place based on the way [fire crews] were around our house, but I was just kind of hoping that everybody was OK."

Fire crews said they did not hear any smoke alarms upon their arrival at the scene.

"Smoke alarms are just so incredibly important," CFD public information officer Carol Henke said Thursday.

"They give you that early warning. And then once a fire takes hold in your home, you literally have two minutes or less to get out safely. Fire doubles in size every 30 seconds, so it grows very, very quickly, And that smoke is just incredibly toxic and dangerous."

Damage to the suite is "extensive" with fire and smoke damage to other suites, according to a Thursday news release.

The fire department is working with Calgary Police Service arson detectives to determine the origin and cause of the blaze, but it is not believed to be suspicious.