Red Deer Emergency Crews responded to a structure fire call at the ATB Building in downtown Red Deer at the intersection of 49th Avenue and 51st Street.
“We were initially called here for a structure fire and smoke in the building on the main level, second level and in the basement.”Damian LaGrange, Emergency services assistant deputy chief, said. “The building was evacuated and our crews did a thorough search which discovered something had burned in an air handling unit. I believe it was a filter.”
Seventy-five people were evacuated without incident and no one was suffering any ill effects from the smoke at press time.
Emergency services is currently clearing out the smoke, which will take roughly an hour to dissipate. Workers will be allowed to return to the building following the smoke clearing.
“We have fans put in place and we want to make sure everything is nice and clear so folks can move back in,” LaGrange said.
The building had very effective evacuation plans, according to LaGrange.
“Kudos to this group for being prepared and doing a good evacuation,” he said. “This one was a relatively simple situation but had it been more serious, people should know that a good evacuation plan was key here for people getting out.”
He added it is unclear how the filter caught fire at this time.
“We do have a fire inspector that will come in and take a peek,” he said.
todd.vaughan@redddeerexpress.com
Like us on facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/Lacombeexpress/
and follow us on twitter at https://twitter.com/lacombeexpress.
