Early morning fire rips through northwest Calgary building
Officials are investigating after a fire broke out inside a vacant building in northwest Calgary early Sunday morning.
The Calgary Fire Department says crews were dispatched to the 1100 block of Gladstone Road N.W. for reports of a fire at approximately 12:45 a.m. A second alarm was called immediately because of the situation, officials said.
"Upon arrival, fire crews faced significant smoke and visible flames from the interior of a three-storey cinder block commercial building. Firefighters quickly initiated an exterior defensive attack," the CFD said in a release.
Crews also set up a number of water towers to keep the fire from spreading to other businesses, such as a bike shop next door.
EMPTY FOR YEARS
Officials say the building where the fire began had been empty for some time.
"Reports were that the structure had been vacant for a number of years," officials said.
People who live in the area believe it was an abandoned community centre.
"We thought it was smoke from construction or something like that but we turned the corner and saw a bunch of smoke coming from the top," said Matthew Powell.
A short moment later, they said they heard the sirens approaching and then firefighters were at the scene.
Powell says it took only about 10 minutes for the building to be fully involved.
"It's pretty crazy."
Fire crews, along with a fire investigator, will remain at the scene to ensure all the flames have been extinguished and they haven't spread to other buildings.
Officials say damage was limited to the one structure.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.