Central Saskatoon home 'total loss' after house fire forces residents, neighbours to flee

A large house fire in central Saskatoon Friday evening left one scorched house unsalvageable and forced several neighboursfrom theirhomes, but no injuries were reported, the fire department says.

The Saskatoon Fire Department received multiple reports of a house and garage fire at 408 24th St. W. around 5:40 p.m. Friday, the department said in a news release later that evening.

Crews encountered "heavy fire conditions" from the garage and "numerousoutbuildings" at the back of the house,Rob Hogan, the department's deputy chief of operations and emergency communications, toldCBC on Saturday.

"The house had ignited the roof on fire."

A picture of the fire shared on social media shows a large, modern-looking home with flames on top of the roofsending a plume of blacksmoke into the sky. The homeappeared to have multiple balconies anda separate basement entrance.

The initial crews and three engines began an "aggressive exterior attack," and called for a fourth fire engine and ladder shortly after 6 p.m, Hogan said.The department said the fire was under control by 8:30 p.m.

The fire at the three-storey home was difficult to fight due to the many structures in the yard, low-hanging power lines, narrow alleyways and the distanceto fire hydrants on that block, said Hogan.

The house will be a "total loss" due to the significant damage,Hogan said. Hedid not know how many residents lived in the home or whether any neighbouring homes had been damaged by the fire or smoke.

Daelyn Stewart says she and her friend Allisa Wiebe weresitting in the living room of the home next door when she saw flames.

"And all of a sudden the flames got bigger, andI just turned to my friend and I'm like, 'Call 911,' so we're searching for our phones, andthe fire next door just kept getting bigger and bigger," she told CBC at the scene.

She says they felt panic and were out of the house in less than two minutes.

"It was out of control super fast. So I grabbed the kids and we were out the door," said Stewart.

"By the time we actually got through to 911, it had already spread to the roof," addedWiebe, who said she also heard a loud bang at one point.Their dog followed them out of thehouse, but they had to run back in to retrieve a cat and later some baby formula, she said.

The two women said they believe there was a family renting the basement of the house that caught fire, and that the tenants and the owner of the home, as well as their pets, all made it outsafely. The fire departmentarrived at the scene quickly after they called, they said.

A CBC reporter at the scene around 6:30 p.m. sawfire crews dousing the home's charred roof with water from a ladder as several residents watched from across the street, as smoke continued to billowfrom the home. Fire crews were on the doorstep of a neighbouring home as well.

The fire departmentsays it is still investigating the cause of the fire, which Hogan will becomplex due to the sheer size of the house. He declined to comment on any preliminary findings, citing the need to protect the integrity of the investigation.