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
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
Investigators have finally revealed the identity of an unknown victim nicknamed 'Midtown Jane Doe,' who was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City two decades ago.