Investigation underway after 2 fires in same southwest Calgary high rise apartment building

A fire in an apartment on an upper floor of an Elbow Drive high-rise led to a second fire Saturday night.

An investigation is underway after crews discovered two fires at the same southwest Calgary high rise apartment late Saturday night.

At around 11:15 p.m. Calgary 911 was alerted by one tenant about a smoke alarm in their neighbour's apartment on one of the upper floors of Mayfair Place at 6707 Elbow Drive S.W.

They reported black smoke coming from under the door, prompting the caller to pull the alarm, notifying residents and calling 911 to report it.

The first crew to arrive found the floor of the apartment and entered to combat the fire. They also requested a second alarm due to the size of the building, which allowed a second crew to search suites after tenants evacuated.

That led to the discovery of a second fire, which appeared to be from food left on the stove by a resident who evacuated because of the first fire.

Tenants were evacuated into two buses provided by the City of Calgary

Crews were able to quickly extinguish both fires and ventilated the smoke out of the apartments, as well as the affected floor, to make sure air quality was safe.

Everyone was allowed to return except for the tenant from the first fire, which needs repairs.

Calgary Transit assisted with two large buses to accommodate evacuees.

One firefighter was injured and treated by EMS and released on scene.