Firefighters in Airdrie, Alta., remained on scene Tuesday night after flames gutted a family home earlier in the day.
Just after 1 p.m., crews were dispatched to Baywater Street S.W. in Airdrie.
They were met with smoke and flames devouring a two-storey house.
More than a dozen residents and a pet from the main home and the two neighbouring houses all escaped unharmed.
The Airdrie Fire Department says crews had to pivot for their own safety—from fighting the flames inside the home to taking it outside—because conditions intensified very quickly.
“Firefighters were pulled out,” said Garth Rabel, deputy chief with the Airdrie Fire Department.
“We went into defensive, which meant our water streams went elevated and we put heavy-volume water on the house with the fire and then exposure nozzles, meaning water in between the houses—the one on the left and the right.”
The home where the fire started will need to be demolished.
The adjacent homes have minimal damage.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
