Fatal house fire possibly linked to domestic dispute, Calgary police say

Calgary police say the death of a man at a northwest house fire on Friday could be connected to a domestic incident.

Police responded to a home in the 0 to 100 block of Panatella Drive N.W. at around 5:30 a.m. for reports of a domestic disturbance.

When they arrived, officers found a home across the street was on fire and called the fire department to assist.

Police found one man dead inside the home.

Officials say a woman from the scene was taken to hospital in serious condition.

No other injuries were reported.

'PRETTY SCARED'

Neighouring homes were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

"We got a knock on the door from (police) around 6 a.m. There were a few bangs on the door, letting us know there's a fire next door," said Chris Roach, who lives on the road.

"I was barely awake, basically still sleeping, so I was pretty scared. We wondered how serious it was, it looked pretty serious when we walked outside.”

Roach said he could see flames pouring out of the door of the home and someone being taken out on a stretcher.

"The rush of red lights obviously," he said. "[I] look to my left, [and there's] fire coming out the front door, [and] like stretchers coming out. [It was] just a pretty scary situation overall."

Lori Lawrence, a neighbour, said, "It's really sad you know for it to happen in this neighourhood. I'm not sure what happened, but obviously a fire and I feel bad for if you know anybody's been hurt."

The arson unit is investigating and an autopsy is scheduled for later on Friday.

(With files from Austin Lee and Kevin Fleming)