Injuries reported, over 50 residents displaced following fire at Regina apartment complex

A late night fire in south Regina led to pandemonium at an apartment complex not far from the University of Regina.

Two people are injured and more than 50 are displaced after the serious blaze heavily damaged several apartments on the 200 block of Centennial Street.

“My kids were asleep and I heard banging on the door … I finally went to the door and saw these people running around. They’re screaming to get out, there’s a fire,” Justine Rombaut, who lived near the scene of the fire, told CTV News.

“I get out and I look behind my house and there are big embers just landing on top of our townhouse.”

Rombaut said she immediately ran back inside to retrieve her two children and her cat.

“By the time I came around, the flames were over six feet high on the building behind us,” she explained, motioning to the scene of the fire.

According to the Regina Fire and Protective Services (RFPS), crews received the emergency call shortly after 9 p.m. on Saturday. When firefighters arrived, the service says they were met with heavy smoke and flames involving multiple suites in the building.

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Footage from Saturday night shows at least four suites were actively burning while crews fought the flames.

“There were definitely four apartments that were compromised, the other ones around are definitely being looked into to see if there’s any damage there,” Rombaut said. “There’s over 50 people that have been displaced, there might be more.”

Several residents were helped out by family and friends, while over 50 were assisted by Mobile Crisis following the fire. According to the city, all the occupants who lived in the 16 suites nearest to the scene were displaced.

Rombaut said some residents of the affected building were out at the time of the fire — while others were forced to escape while the flames quickly grew.

“Of the three people I know in the building, one was out eating and the other two had to smash the window to get out. He had quite a lot of blood loss. You can kind of see it on the ground over there,” she said referring to a spot near the scene.

Rombaut and her family were displaced for about two hours until they were given the all clear to go back inside their home around 11 p.m.

“It’s pretty bad. Especially since fires can jump from building to building, they had, like, all the surrounding buildings in the complex evacuate,” she said. “I think the four buildings around [the fire] were evacuating as fast as they could.”

An investigation into the cause of the fire has begun, according to the city.

Rombaut says the entire experience was eye opening and emphasized the need to be fire responsible and conscious — especially when living with others.

“Just be careful, there’s a lot of people in the building.”

RFPS says it will provide an update on its investigation on Monday.