Man presumed dead, several homes damaged in northwest Calgary fire

A man is presumed dead Friday after fire engulfed two northwest Calgaryhomes and damaged several others.

The Calgary Fire Department says crews responded around 12:20 p.m. to a fire on the 800 block of Citadel Way, in the city'sCitadel neighbourhood. The flames appeared to have started in one home before spreading to one next door.

The first firefighters on the scene found flames shooting out of the two homesand called forbackup. Crews initially attacked the flamesfrom the insidein order to search for anyone still in the homes.

As the firecontinued to grow, firefighters called for yet more help. At one point, 25 fire vehicles were on the scene,officials say.

As conditions deteriorated inside the homes, crews retreated outsideand attacked the blaze from the exterior, eventually knocking down the flames.

One man is still missing and believed to have fallen victim to the fire,officials said, noting conditions are preventing searches of the basements.

Both the home that originally caughtfire and the one the flames spread to sustained significant damage and are considered uninhabitable for the near future. The radiant heat also damaged a number of nearby homes.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire.