Child feared dead after overnight townhouse fire in Clareview

Flowers lay on the snowy sidewalk outside a townhouse in northeast Edmonton’s Clareview area, where a child reportedly lost their life in an overnight fire.

The blaze at the Clareview Village townhouse complex near 31 Street and 132A Avenue in the Belmont neighbourhood broke out around 1:30 a.m. Friday.

Global News spoke to several neighbours in the area who were too upset to appear on camera, but shared what they saw and heard.

A woman who shares an adjacent wall with the unit where the fire happened woke to banging on her door.

She opened it to see her neighbour outside, face covered in ash and without a coat or winter gear on.

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The woman welcomed her neighbour into her home, and other family members followed.

Then firefighters, police and paramedics arrived to assess the family.

The woman said police told her a young child from the unit next door had died, and another had been rushed to hospital. The mother who showed up covered in soot was also taken to hospital.

Those who live in the complex were shaken and upset to learn the news Friday morning. One placed flowers and a teddy bear outside the home.

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As the sun came up, Edmonton police and fire investigators remained on scene outside the townhouse, where the only sign a fire had taken place was a broken window.

Global News has reached out to Edmonton Fire Rescue Services and the Edmonton Police Service for more information.

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