There was just a pretty big looking fire in Edmonton in the Holyrood area

[megmac@social.treehouse.systems]

There was just a pretty big looking fire in Edmonton in the Holyrood area

#yeg

[megmac@social.treehouse.systems]

Video of the fire.

[megmac@social.treehouse.systems]

It seemed like fire crews were already putting it out by the time I got my phone to take a picture. It was quite a bit bigger when I first saw it and it's pretty much gone now so I hope no one was hurt

[megmac@social.treehouse.systems]

News update on this fire: https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/holyrood-housing-project-goes-up-in-flames-1.7101605

I guess this has been a trend lately? Wild.

#yeg

[chigaze@mstdn.ca]

@megmac Heh, my boss lives near there and just posted this pic in our Slack.

[ameliasbrain@mstdn.ca]

@Chigaze @megmac Ooof. But if it was a construction site, at least it's unlikely there was anyone there at night to get hurt.

And now I'm wondering if this was possibly a flare-up of the extortion campaign targetting buildings of Indian/Sikh origin.

But of course, could also just be any of a number of mistakes that happen at construction sites, too.

[chigaze@mstdn.ca]

@AmeliasBrain @megmac Could be part of that but also construction sites are popular for arsonists who feel compelled to burn something but less likely to hurt someone. We had an arsonist like that in are neighbourhood a few years ago.

[megmac@social.treehouse.systems]

@Chigaze @AmeliasBrain honestly it's a bit worrying for us because the lot next to our house is about to be torn down to be replaced by either a duplex or one of those split-lot narrow house pairs that are duplexes in all but name (not clear from the development permit to me).

[ameliasbrain@mstdn.ca]

@megmac @Chigaze Definitely worrying.

And now reading the previous CTV report, it doesn't look like it can be blamed on someone wandering around a specific neighbourhood. And 3 accidents in one week seems a bit unlikely, too:

Friday (Nov 1): fire at 77 Avenue and 115 Street (Belgravia, south side)
Monday (Nov 4): fire at 79 Street and 77 Avenue (Laurier Heights, across the river)
today (Nov 7): fire at 92 Avenue and 81 Street (Holyrood, east side)

'You could feel the heat': Witnesses recount another suspicious fire that destroyed building under construction

Two people living in King Edward Park are sharing what they saw when a suspicious fire destroyed a building under construction over the weekend.

Edmonton (edmonton.ctvnews.ca)

[linux_mclinuxface@fosstodon.org]

@AmeliasBrain @megmac @Chigaze I’ve heard some neighbours in KEP chatting about either rival builders or some sort of builder protection racket.

OTOH: A couple of years ago the north side had a rash of arsons and they turned out to be just a fire bug with no other motive.