Early morning warehouse fire forces evacuation of Calgary hotel

An early morning fire at an abandoned warehouse on Seventh Avenue S.E. sent a massive plume of smoke into the air, engulfing the nearby Hilton Hotel in Calgary’s East Village.

First responders were called to the scene shortly after 3:15 a.m. to find flames and heavy smoke blanketing the building, with smoke blowing toward the nearby hotel.

Despite having 14 apparatus on scene, the firefight was a long one.

"When crews arrived, they attempted to go in and do an interior attack, however conditions quickly changed and made it quite difficult," Calgary Fire Department public information officer Carol Henke said.

The smoke from the fire set off the hotel's alarm, forcing guests out of the building around 3:30 a.m.

“My wife and I were fast asleep and all of a sudden, we heard the smoke alarm go off,” Aaron Getchell, one of the hotel guests told CTV News Wednesday.

Getchell said they first thought it was a test, but when they reached the stairway they knew something was wrong.

“We went into the emergency stairwell to take the stairs down and we immediately smelled smoke. The smoke became more thick right around the fourth floor.

“We just went to the car and went back to bed. Slept in there for about an hour.”

Another hotel guest, Sarvesh, said it was a disorienting situation.

"We didn't know where the smoke was coming from," he said. "But we are thankful the fire alarm rang."

EMS tells CTV News no injuries have been reported.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, and the investigation could be a lengthy one.

That's because building access is limited.

"It's old brick work that's just not structurally sound," Henke said.

"It could be an imminent collapse situation. If anybody has any information that can help, I'd be eager to see and share that with our investigators."

CTrains were temporarily impacted as emergency crews responded. Service has since resumed.

"The close proximity of the transit lines meant the CTrain service was disrupted both while we monitored the stability of the building, and further impacted when the CTrain line was de-energized to allow the building to be made safe," the fire department said in a statement Wednesday night.

"However, we were able to avoid completely shutting down Transit access until after the bulk of rush hour traffic had dissipated. Transit continued to run shuttles to ensure service.

"We recognize the impact on commuters and we'd like to thank all Transit customers for their patience as we worked to ensure everyone's safety. Transit operations have returned to normal."

The fire department says the building has been safely secured and turned over to the property owners.