Fire rips through Saskatoon apartment building overnight
A major fire ripped through a three-story Saskatoon apartment building in the 300 block of 108th Street W overnight on Saturday.
The Saskatoon Fire Department (SFD) was on the scene before 1 a.m. Saturday where the wood frame construction with the roof was fully engulfed in fire, a SFD news release said.
Fire crews helped rescue multiple people inside the units. An updated news release from the department says no injuries for fatalities occurred as a result from the fire.
The fire investigator has determined the cause of the fire was accidental and started because smoking materials were improperly disposed of. The fire originated in the northwest corner of the ground floor outside of the building.
Damage is estimated to be around $5 million.
Adele Freimark lives next door and says she couldn’t fall asleep because every time she closed her eyes she could only see one thing.
“I just saw flames ... almost a dream," Freimark said.
Jaret Gentner lives roughly half a block away from the condo. He was watching TV in his basement when he heard his wife telling him to come upstairs. Within minutes, thick smoke turned into “hand-sized” embers flying off the roof. So he put on some coveralls and grabbed as many garden hoses as he could to try and help.
"It looked like the fires in the movie when they have the firestorms that have Armageddon. There were just big chunks of embers laying everywhere still burning.”
Gentner worked to soak his neighbors property and his own backyard. It wasn't until he got inside over an hour later when he realized one of the flying embers burned his neck.
Owen McKenzie lives next door and says the situation could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for people across the street alerting people inside telling them to get out as fast as they could.
“We found our way out, but it was the kind of thing where you know what was happening, sort of, but you’re not sure," he said.
McKenzie thanked the police and firefighters for their quick work to get everyone out and manage the situation as best as possible. He also thanked residents across the street who offered blankets, water and coffee to evacuees who watched their homes slowly burn.
Waiting for power to be restored to his building, he was having trouble accepting the close call.
“Fire trucks going by and you usually hear them coming and then going, and this time they stopped at our address," he said. "Firefighters prioritized their efforts and, as we always do, SFD personnel worked as a team," the release said.
"This was a challenging fire due to many circumstances. Firefighters performed amazing rescues and battles extreme fire conditions."
The burnt portion of the building was partially taken down to properly extinguish the fire and reduce the risk of it collapsing further, the release said.
Some residents will require rehousing and the Salvation Army is making arrangements.
The fire department will hold a media conference at the #5 at 2 p.m. on Sunday to follow up with further information and details about the fire.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report. Of the 15 most polluted cities in the two countries, 14 were in Canada.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
BREAKING Roy McMurtry, former Ontario attorney general, dies at 91
CTV News has confirmed that former Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry has died.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
DEVELOPING Canada's annual inflation rate ticked down to 2.8 per cent in February, defying expectations
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.