Early morning fire destroys home in southeast Edmonton

Four people were able to escape to safety while a house was destroyed by fire in southeast Edmonton early this morning.

Firefighters arrived at the home, near 37th Avenue and 28 A Street, around 4:30 a.m. to find the building already engulfed in flames.

"You could hear it. The crackling, the explosion of the (car) tires behind us," said Brenda Cannon, who lives next door to the house.

Cannon said she was awoken by one of her neighbours banging on her door, yelling about a fire. When she walked outside, she saw her neighbour's home was already heavily damaged.

She said the fire spread quickly and was worried it would spread to her own home. But aside from a bit of melted siding, the damage was contained to the one house.

"I was terrified, I was waiting for our house to catch fire," she said. "Thankfully, (firefighters) kept it under control."

It took 32 firefighters to get the fire under control. It was finally declared out a 7 a.m..

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.