Regina condo building evacuated after balcony fire

A balcony fire forced the evacuation of a condominium building in north Regina early Sunday morning.

According to Deputy Fire Chief Neil Sundeen, the call for help came in at about 1 a.m., for 215 Smith St. North.

When crews arrived, the found a second-floor deck fully involved. That’s where firefighters believe the blaze originated.

“It does appear like it started on the balcony. So they’re looking at the obvious choices on the balcony, potentially smoking material (or the) barbecue. Those are the typical things that happen,” Sundeen said.

“We actually had an explosion. The barbecue actually exploded while they were fighting the fire and sent debris all over. Fortunately again, nobody was injured so it was quite a spectacular fire.”

The fire spread from the second floor to a third-floor balcony but Sundeen said crews were able to prevent flames from entering the unit.

However, major damage was inflicted on the second-floor suite, he said.

Sundeen said the building had approximately 30 units and everybody got out safely.

He praised crews for dousing the fire in about half an hour, all while accounting for residents.

“You’re concentrating so much on making sure all the residents are out and yet fighting the fire,” Sundeen said.

“It seems like organized chaos but I’ll tell you what, those crews battled very hard to contain the fire and getting everybody out.”