Edmonton Firefighters Rescued: "Not Going to Leave Without You"

Rescuers raced against time Tuesday to save five firefighters trapped in a burning building, promising they weren't leaving without them.

"There was a flashlight, so I went to that," Brad Hoekstra, who followed a life line down, said. "I couldn't really see much, other than that light. And then I asked who it was and he identified himself and I said 'don't worry, it's Hoekstra here. I am with you and I am not going to leave without you.'"

On Wednesday, Hoekstra and Rod Kutney described their emotional fight to reach the men, who were buried under rubble when the roof of the underground parkade collapsed.

Large air bags and battery-powered saws were used to get the five firefighters out, after about 30 minutes. The fire began just before noon, when a person trying to thaw a frozen pipe with a blow torch ignited cardboard insulation in the parkade's ceiling.

The three-storey building was soon engulfed in flames.

"I got thrown up against the wall and luckily there was a space for me to move around in. I could hear one of the firefighters crying for help. I couldn't get to them," Kutney said. "It was very trying, especially when they stopped crying for help.

"You didn't know if they were dead or alive."

Kutney said their biggest worry was that the firefighters' oxygen tanks, which last from 20 to 45 minutes, would run out.

Residents of the downtown Ashbury Apartments have been left homeless, and Edmontonians have rallied around them. The Red Cross has been innundated with calls from people wanting to donate furniture and clothing to those who have lost everything.

"It is unusual because we have had apartment buildings before where everybody has to vacate for a night or two, or we've had up to a week, but they could normally all get back except for the one suite that burned," Terry Chicoine, co-ordinator of disaster services for the Red Cross, said. "This is the first time we've had a whole building that's destroyed."

David Clark, one of the tenants, who doesn't have insurance, says the person who allowed the workers to use torches should compensate the residents.

The fire marshall says no charges will be laid.

Edmonton (March 11) - It was a tense afternoon for firefighters, after five were trapped in a burning building and two were missing for a short time.

About three hours after the fire started, the apartment fire was under control and all the fire crews were safe. In mid-afternoon they were battling the blaze from outside, out of concern for their safety, but the building has been gutted by the fire.

Initially five firefighters were believed to have been trapped in the underground parkade when it collapsed.

Emergency crews were also concerned that propane tanks on the building's roof could explode, and everyone within a block of the area was evacuated.

Crews were called to the Columbia Apartments on 105th Street just before noon. It is believed that the blaze began when a frozen pipe in the parkade was being thawed with a torch and insulation caught fire.

The evacuated tenants were being sheltered in a nearby transit bus.

Six people were taken to University Hospital and the Royal Alexander, and at least two were firefighters getting checked out. A spokeswoman said she couldn't comment on the extent of any injuries.