Fire guts house in northeast Calgary, damages another

Crews are on the scene of a blaze that damaged two houses in northeast Calgary early Friday morning.

It happened around 2 a.m. MT in the 2300 block of 50th Street N.E. in Rundle.

Calgary police say an officer on patrol saw the flames coming from the roof a house and heard an explosion as he was approached the scene.

When firefighters arrived one house was fully engulfed and a second was starting to burn, fire officials say.

Crews confirmed that all occupants in both homes were accounted for and have brought the fires under control.

Firefighters are still at the scene dealing with a ruptured natural gas line that continues to flare.

The fire is being controlled but not extinguished because doing so before the line is shut down would flood the area with natural gas, officials say.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

“Both homes had working smoke alarms which woke the families and allowed them to exit the houses safely,” the fire department said in a release.

“This is a very good example of the importance of not only having smoke alarms in your home but testing them regularly.”