1 dead in southeast Calgary house fire

A woman was killed Tuesday night in a fire at a fourplex home in southeast Calgary.

It happened about 9 p.m. in the 2600 block of 39th St S.E., in the community of Forest Lawn.

Police and EMS both confirmed the death of a female but no age or any other information was available.

Emergency crews say when they arrived on the scene the woman was found unconscious in the home.

Although crews were quick to tend to the victim, she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Firefighters were able to contain the brunt of the damage to the room where the fire first started, and about 10 occupants were displaced from the fourplex.

No other injuries have been reported. 

Crews arrived to find smoke coming from a main floor window.

They located the fire in a back bedroom and were able to bring it under control before it spread throughout the building.

Witnesses described it as a shocking scene.

"I saw just how devastated people were standing on the street. Just wondering what was going on and how it happened. It was a lot of confusion and scared people," said Jewel Naylor, a nearby resident who witnessed the fire.

"I did talk to the people who were downstairs when it initially happened, and they were frightened. They didn't know what was going on. They came outside with no shoes, no coat, nothing. They just had to dash out of the house."

Naylor added that she counted about 10 fire trucks responding to the incident.

The Canadian Red Cross has now stepped in to help find shelter for those who have been displaced.

The Calgary police arson unit, as well as fire investigators, remained on the scene for much of the night working to determine what sparked the blaze.

This is a developing story that will be updated throughout the day …