When fire crews arrived at the Geo C. King Tower, they saw smoke coming from the windows of a fourth-floor suite
A fire at a senior’s housing complex in downtown Calgary this afternoon claimed the life of one of the tower’s residents.
Carol Henke, a public information officer with the Calgary Fire Department, said crews responded to the blaze at a seven-storey housing facility in the 800 block of 6th Street S.E. around 3:45 p.m., after an “explosion” was reported from a suite on the fourth floor.
When fire crews arrived at the Geo C. King Tower in the East Village, they saw smoke coming from the windows of a fourth-floor suite, Henke told media at the scene.
“When they entered the suite, tragically, there was a fatality in that suite,” she said, adding a tenant in the neighbouring unit was also injured and taken to hospital.
The Geo. C. King Tower, where the fire occurred, is listed on the Alberta Seniors Housing Directory as a low-income seniors housing facility. It also houses the Alex Seniors’ Health Centre.
After the fire was extinguished, tenants were allowed back into the building by 5:00 p.m., Henke noted, except for residents on the fourth floor, which still had power shut off as a result of the fire damage.
“Those folks will have to wait a little bit longer before they can be allowed in,” she said. “We want to make sure their suites are safe for re-entry.”
Residents of the tower who are suffering emotionally as a result of the incident can access different social networks or services through calling 211.
“It is really stressful and it’s horrifying to see something like this — especially when a neighbour dies in a fire,” Henke said. “There are a lot of questions and a lot of folks are really upset, and that’s understandable.”
— With files from Jim Wells