Five homes surrounding the fire were evacuated as crews worked to tame inferno CALGARY (660 NEWS) – Several residents in Douglas Glen were jolted awake shortly before 4:30 a.m. Sunday by a loud bang, followed by smoke and flames shooting into the sky. “When our crews arrived one house was fully involved, immediately they called for a second alarm for additional resources, fire already was spreading to a neighbouring home,” said Carol Henke, public information officer with the Calgary Fire Department who added the initial calls came in reporting a potential explosion. “There were flames shooting up, there was an orange glow in the sky,” neighbour Renee said. “Within 10 minutes that house was gone and the two on each side were in flames.” Footage from neighbours following an explosion in the Douglas Glen Close SE area and more from the smoky scene hours later. pic.twitter.com/6nbyS0KCX8 — Crystal Laderas (@CrisLaderas) February 17, 2019 Renee described a very scary situation to see nearly a dozen fire trucks on scene trying to tame the inferno. “The wind has died down and thank God because they had trouble containing it.” Christian Robinson also lives nearby and said when the explosion happened, his bed shook. “I thought someone was in my house and had kicked my bed or something,” he recalled. “I looked out and there was a bright orange glow… I could see the flames overtop the houses.” He said it was very nervewracking and he was concerned more houses would go up in smoke. “I wondered, ‘Should I get my stuff ready and get in my car’ [to evacuate]. '” Another neighbour said it was like someone landed a plane on his roof. People here telling me the scene was chaotic – a child was missing for a brief time and the flames were at least 50 feet high. The homeowners are believe to be in Thailand – no word yet on basement tenant #YYC — Ian Campbell (@news_ian) February 17, 2019 Shirley walked 660 NEWS through a similar story–she said she, among others, was looking around to figure out what had happened. “We heard a big boom and our windows shook and our house shook. “About an hour later we could smell the smoke and gas. It was really bad until about 11 a.m.” A charred carcass is all that’s left of the home where crews believe the fire started. The destruction is so extreme firefighters have not been able to search the house for any occupants that may have been inside at the time of the incident. One neighbouring home sustained severe damage due to the explosion and subsequent fire. Damage to other homes includes broken windows and melted siding. Five homes were evacuated and Henke said they asked Calgary Transit to supply two transit buses to shelter the evacuees from the cold weather. -with files from Jenna Hamilton, Ian Campbell<doc-sep>LATEST ON THIS STORY: Death of man in Calgary house explosion ruled 'not suspicious' One home was destroyed and several others were damaged by an apparent explosion in the southeast Calgary community of Douglas Glen early Sunday morning. It's not yet known whether anyone was injured in the blast. Calgary fire spokesperson Carol Henke said more than 25 calls were made to 911 about 4:20 a.m. "Callers reported hearing a loud bang, then seeing fire and smoke coming from the house," she said. "Some callers were several blocks away. When fire crews arrived on scene, they encountered a fully involved house fire with flames spreading to neighbouring residences." Strong winds and cold temperatures hampered efforts by fire fighters to get the flames under control. The temperature at the time was -17 C and there were wind gusts up to 40 km/hr. This photo was taken about 4:20 a.m. after an explosion destroyed a home and damaged several others. (Submitted photo) The fires have since been brought under control. "The debris pattern around the neighbourhood would indicate there was an explosion," said Capt. Paul Frederick with the Calgary Fire Department. Investigators will begin sifting through the rubble looking for a cause once firefighters have finished putting out hot spots, said Frederick. Neighbour Dale Frizzell heard the blast and ran outside to see the second storey of the home across the street had been blown away. Frizzell says the owner of the destroyed home is in Thailand, where he spends six to eight weeks each winter. Neighbour Dale Frizzell said the owner of the destroyed home is in Thailand, where he spends six to eight weeks each year, however a renter is unaccounted for. (Sarah Lawrynuik/CBC) "He's lost everything, he had his car in the garage, he had his truck in his garage. He also had the house rented out," he said. "We're just hoping the renter wasn't here. We haven't seen him for about a week or two, so we're hoping he's not here, that he's somewhere else. That's the main concern for us as neighbours." Anika MacLachlan and her son, Evan, were asleep in their home about 100 metres away when they were awakened by an explosion. This is NOT how you want to be woken in the early morning! Around 4:20am. Douglasglen. Across from our front yard. 🤞no one was home. Trying to save all the… https://t.co/AIrGt8wIPT —@JSBlades "It was a violent shake of our house, to the point where the cupboards rattled and the glass inside was rattling," said Anika. She did a quick check of their own home, then went outside. "That's when we saw massive flames shooting up not far away," she said. Five homes were evacuated on Douglas Glen Close S.E. A second alarm was called in, meaning additional fire resources sent to the scene, and Calgary Transit also brought in two buses to keep evacuees warm. Some of those evacuated have been allowed back inside their homes. Five homes were evacuated following an explosion in the community of Douglas Glen. (Anis Heydari/CBC) "The neighbouring home sustained pretty significant damage as well, but there were some other homes that just had some more minor damage like broken windows and melted siding," said Henke. Henke is asking anyone who has photos or videos of the fire to email them to her.<doc-sep>Article content Sources have confirmed a body has been recovered from a burned out home after an explosion sparked a two-alarm blaze on Sunday morning. Police are still investigating the cause of the fire but the death is not being treated as suspicious. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or UPDATE: Body found in southeast house fire, death not suspicious Back to video Dozens of 911 calls around 4:20 a.m. reported “a loud bang” in the 300 block of Douglas Glen Close S.E., the fire department said in a statement. One caller said they heard “a loud sound, glass shattering and then flames visible from the second floor of the single-family home.” When fire crews arrived they found a home fully engulfed in flames with fire spreading to neighbouring residences. The fire department called a second alarm for additional resources to fight the fire, aggressively attacking the source home fire while fighting the spreading flames from both inside and outside the neighbouring homes. Denise Sullivan’s home backs onto the fire. She said she woke to “a big, huge bang like an explosion” on Sunday morning.<doc-sep>
Send this page to someone via email First responders were at the scene of a house fire in the southeast Calgary community of Douglas Glen Sunday morning. At around 9:30 p.m. investigators removed a body from the home. The incident occurred in the 300 block of Douglas Glen Close S.E. Police have not confirmed any further details, except to say they’ve taken over the investigation. Officers said they would hold the scene for several hours, possibly longer. WATCH: The Sunday morning blast destroyed one home in southeast Calgary and damaged two neighbouring houses. Michael King reports. 1:08 Investigation continues into explosion in southeast Calgary Investigation continues into explosion in southeast Calgary – Feb 17, 2019 Fire officials said they received over 25 calls to 911 at around 4:20 a.m. Story continues below advertisement Many callers reporting they heard a loud bang, glass shattering, and saw flames visible from the second floor of the home. When crews arrived, they found a home fully engulfed in fire, with the flames spreading to a second home. WATCH: A fire started in the 300 block of Douglas Glen Close S.E. in Calgary on Sunday. When crews arrived, they found a home fully engulfed in fire, with the flames spreading to a second home. Adam MacVicar has more. 1:47 Officials investigate explosion, fire in southeast Calgary Officials investigate explosion, fire in southeast Calgary – Feb 17, 2019 According to Calgary fire, a neighbouring home suffered severe damage to the possible explosion and fire; damage to other homes included melted siding and broken windows. Five homes were evacuated in all, according to fire officials. Two transit buses were brought in to shelter evacuees, but residents with homes that sustained minor damage have since been allowed to return home. Story continues below advertisement READ MORE: Smoking materials to blame for 2 deadly Calgary fires Crews shut off power and gas to the affected homes. A second alarm was called to the scene, due to damage and the need to change out crews because of the cold weather. One neighbour said he heard a loud explosion that shook his house a block away. BREAKING: Several houses on fire on Douglas Glen Close, hearing that at least one house is destroyed, and a second is badly damaged; no word yet on injuries #yyc @GlobalCalgary pic.twitter.com/wFL7l15YFx — Michael King (@MKingGlobal) February 17, 2019 According to a neighbour who spoke to Global News, the owner of the home was away in Thailand and a renter was living there at the time of the explosion. “We hadn’t seen him in a few weeks and we were just hoping and praying he wasn’t in there,” Dave Frizzell said. “We are a family. It’s hard to swallow sometimes but that’s what we do, help each other through tough times. “I feel bad for the owner, he lost everything, she lost everything, and he’s going to come home to a house with nothing and have that person who passed away in his basement.” Fire officials continue to investigate the cause of this incident and are asking any witnesses who have information, photos or video, especially prior to the arrival of fire crews on scene, to email piofire@calgary.ca. Story continues below advertisement WATCH: The incident occurred in the 300 block of Douglas Glen Close S.E. When crews arrived, they found a home fully engulfed in fire, with the flames spreading to a second home. 3:21 Calgary Fire investigating possible explosion in southeast neighborhood Calgary Fire investigating possible explosion in southeast neighborhood – Feb 17, 2019 – With files from Michael King