Residents evacuate units in early-morning fire in southwest Calgary condo

Residents of a southwest Calgary condominium were evacuated after an early morning fire Saturday.

According to several residents who spoke to CTV News, the building fire alarms went off around 4:50 a.m.

Crews responded to 35 Richard Court S.W. and, on arrival, found damage from a fire and working sprinklers on a second-floor balcony.  

The Calgary Fire Department says its investigation revealed fire within the outside walls of several floors of the four-story building.  

A second alarm was eventually called. 

"When we exited our unit shortly thereafter, the hallway was filled with smoke," said Dave, who lives in a unit close to the one where the fire was.

"I believe it was a unit fairly close to mine just across the hall that actually – I don't know if it was the unit itself or the balcony – but it caught on fire," he said.

"As we were leaving, there was three or four firefighters in the hallway who were connecting the hose and getting ready to tend to the fire," he added.

35 Richard Court S.W.

He said by the time he made it out onto the street with his German shepherd puppy, the fire had already been extinguished.

He didn't know if there was any damage to his suite.

A second resident, Scott, who lives in a suite on the first floor, said his unit had water damage.

"It looks like I'm not going to be living in this unit for a while," he said.

A CFD release says wall spaces of several of the units needed to be opened up and six homes currently remain evacuated. They're all facing significant water and smoke damage. 

One resident was treated on scene for minor injuries.  

Dave said it wasn't the first time a fire has broken out in the building, but the fire department is only a couple of hundred metres away so fire crews always respond quickly.

What made Saturday's blaze different was how close it was to his own unit.

"This is the closest it's ever been," he said.

A third resident said there's just over 200 units in the building, which he added was built in 2003.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and crews will continue to monitor the scene throughout Saturday evening.