Firefighters contended with extreme cold Tuesday night to battle a large fire at an old motel in Wetaskiwin.
The structure fire started shortly before midnight, a spokesperson with Wetaskiwin Fire Services told CBC News.
As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, firefighters remained on scene as temperatures hovered around –35 C with winds that made it feel like –50.
Crews from nearby Millet were called in overnight to assist.
In videos of the scene, black smoke could be seen billowing from the two-storey structure near the corner of 40th Avenue and 54th Street. A pair of firefighters could be seen on the roof.
There have been no reports of injuries, officials said.
Fire still going <a href=”https://t.co/S4dUtUawx6″>pic.twitter.com/S4dUtUawx6</a>
—@Synraven
Patricia Broatch who lives in an apartment directly behind the building said the motel has not been operating for some time but a small convenience store continues to operate out of the property.
“My husband got up at midnight, saw the fire,” she said. “This would have been just after midnight.”
The property did not appear to be unoccupied at the time of the fire, she said.
“I think they evacuated the people that were in there, as we saw them putting people into cars,” Broatch said.
“It’s just a lot of black smoke now, but there’s still flames.”
Wetaskiwin is about 70 kilometres south of Edmonton.