Body found in southwest home following blast
Firefighters find man’s body inside as chemical threat rattles neighbours
Fire crews knocked down a southwest Edmonton house fire and discovered the body of a male after an explosion that forced area residents to take cover due to a chemical threat Friday morning.
Police and fire crews, along with a fire department hazardous materials team, responded to the explosion and resulting blaze at the home in the Rutherford neighbourhood near 121 Street and 16 Avenue SW around 10:49 a.m. Friday. Residents were ordered to stay inside due to concerns about chemicals in the air.
Deputy fire Chief Scott Macdonald said early from the scene that the explosion and resulting fire appeared “definitely suspicious” and that city police quickly took over the investigation.
City police in a news release issued just before 5 p.m. Friday said the death of the male discovered inside the home appears to be non-criminal and officers continue to investigate.
The call came in around the same time that the RCMP Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Response (CLEAR) team and another Edmonton fire department hazardous materials team responded to a home on Waverly Drive in St. Albert, with some neighbouring residences there evacuated as a precautionary measure.
“Very busy day for hazmat crews,” said Macdonald around 12:30 p.m. Friday as a chemical smell from the explosion still wafted in the air.
Haleigh Hinchliffe, who lives down the street from the home, said the neighbourhood is usually quiet. She was watching Netflix at the time of the explosion, and hadn’t noticed any commotion until she stepped outside and saw emergency crews cordoning off her street.
“I was quiet startled,” she said. “I was like, ‘What’s going on today, can I leave for work?’”
Roads at the Edmonton scene remained blocked off as authorities investigated the cause of the blast, which appeared to have originated from a second-floor room.
The CLEAR team in St. Albert was deployed in order to clear a home that is a possible drug lab, added Macdonald.
The RCMP said just after noon Friday that the St. Albert situation was contained with no risk to the public, however, police are asking anyone on foot to avoid the area on Waverly Drive as officers investigate.
I was quite startled. I was like, ‘What’s going on today, can I leave for work?’ HALEIGH HINCHLIFFE