A father and his 9-year-old daughter are dead following a tragic house fire in northeast Calgary early Thursday morning.
Emergency crews were called to the fire at a home on Taralake Way NE in the community of Taradale just before 1:30 a.m. after a neighbour called 911.
When they arrived, heavy flames could be seen coming from both the first and second floor of the two-storey home. The fire was also threatening neighbouring homes.
The Calgary Fire Department (CFD) quickly upgraded the blaze to a second alarm.
Battalion Chief Scott Cowan tells CityNews there were six people inside the house at the time of the fire.
One resident described to CityNews the moment he saw flames enveloping from his neighbour’s house, before running over and kicking in a window to aid in the escape.
“The fire is burning…you have no option,” says Zubair Hnif. “First you come outside, and then you go for the others.”
“I think this is humanity, this is what we have to do.”
The body of a man was found inside the home by first responders and his young daughter was also pulled out by firefighters, according to officials.
Itbar Mohammed, who lives across the street, recalls the moment the girl was removed from the burning house in the arms of a Calgary firefighter.
“The (firefighters), oh my god, they were very brave,” says Mohammed. “They just broke the doors and they jump in the fire, and they took them out, it was very shocking.”
The girl was taken to Alberta Children’s Hospital in critical condition and eventually died of her injuries.
Family have identified the victims as the 50-year-old Sunny Gill and his daughter, Hargun Gill. Mom Suki Gill, and 17-year-old Rohanpreet Gill were rescued from the home and taken to hospital.
Suki and Rohanpreet, who were on the second storey, were able to break a window at the back of the house and climb out onto the roof where they were rescued by firefighters. The pair were taken to Foothills Hospital and Alberta Children’s Hospital, respectively, and are both reported to be in serious but stable condition.
Two adults in the basement got themselves out of the house when they smelled smoke, Cowan said.
Investigators believe the fire started on the main floor and are working to determine the cause and origin. CFD says it’s believed to be non-criminal in nature.