A large fire broke out Monday night at an old municipal airport hangar in central Edmonton.
The hangar is situated between the NAIT campus and Blatchford, alongside what used to be Edmonton’s City Centre Airport.
The City of Edmonton said the fire began just before 7 p.m. and was upgraded to a second-alarm response half an hour later.
The city said 11 crews, or about 44 firefighters, were working on the fire as heavy smoke and flames poured out of the hangar.
No injuries have been reported so far, the city said. LRT service on the Metro Line has been temporarily suspended to the new NAIT/Blatchford Market station and the city said trains are turning around at Kingsway/Royal Alex station.
The flames and thick, black smoke could be seen from kilometres away. Closer to the scene near 109th Street and 117th Avenue, ash and smoke was raining down on the ground.
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As of just before 8 p.m., the fire was still raging and flames had spread to the grass between it and the NAIT main campus, as well as a building beside the hangar.
A large fire broke out at an old municipal airport hangar between the NAIT campus and Blatchford in central Edmonton on Monday, April 22, 2024.
Sarah Ryan, Global News
Firefighters were seen on the roof the adjacent building, trying to get the upper hand on the situation as strong wind gusts fanned the flames.
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Students at NAIT told Global News they were told to evacuate the campus.
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The building on fire appeared to be the old Hangar 11, a municipal historic resource that was constructed in 1942 by the U.S. Air Force to support the Second World War efforts.
The city said Hangar 11 played a significant role in the Lend-Lease program that had the U.S. provide military equipment to the allies before and after it joined the war.
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Hangar 11 was believed to be the last remaining building of its kind in Western Canada.
This breaking news story will be updated as more information is received.
More to come…
Hangar 11 at Edmonton’s Blatchford Field designated historic resource
