A bedroom fire gutted one unit at Wedgewood Gardens in Red Deer on Tuesday morning. Two people were inside the fourth floor apartment at the time but no one was seriously injured.
Three engine companies and one ambulance responded to the call around 7:45 a.m. to the apartment building at 5140 62nd St.
“One occupant of the suite was assessed on scene for smoke inhalation but was not transported to hospital,” said platoon chief Pat Mulrooney. “She was in the bedroom that was fully involved.”
A fire alarm allowed the two women who were living in the apartment to get out safely, said Shane Dussault, a fire prevention officer with Red Deer Emergency Services, and also set off other fire alarms in the building.
The building was evacuated for 20 to 30 minutes as crews contained the fire and conducted air and gas monitoring for air quality before allowing others back in, Mulrooney said.
“The first responders did see some light smoke coming out of the fourth floor,” Dussault said. “We were able to get in there quite quickly and knock it down.”
As there is no sprinkler system in the building, crews had to run the hose up the stairwell to the fourth floor but were able to save the units underneath from any water damage.
Dussault said he roughly estimates the damage to the unit, which will have to be rebuilt, at about $50,000.
The Red Cross has stepped in to assist one of the two women. The other has found alternate accommodations.
The origins of the fire are believed to have been in one bedroom and the cause is still under investigation.