Man, 85, dies after jumping off Edmonton balcony to escape fire sparked by crash

EDMONTON – Edmonton police say an 85-year-old man is dead after jumping from a balcony to escape a fire after a vehicle crashed into his apartment complex and ignited a fireball.

The crash and fire Monday night sent six more people to hospital with injuries, including the 62-year-old driver. 

On Tuesday, police said two residents were unaccounted for and 35 residents displaced.

“Part of the building has actually come down. We had to remove the vehicle from the scene so that it would not be trapped within the building,” Edmonton Police Chief Warren Driechel told a news conference.

“(Investigators are) obviously going to be looking for several things, primarily, I hate to say, human remains — individuals who may have been caught in the fire.”

Driechel said the crash occurred shortly after 9 p.m. when a vehicle, for unexplained reasons, veered off the road and into the building, which has retail shops on the ground level and apartments above.

The crash ruptured a gas line, leading to the explosion and fire.

The aggressiveness of the fire meant it took three hours to bring the blaze under control, said Edmonton fire Chief David Lazenby.

He said the severity of the fire also likely explained why the man who died decided to jump from the balcony.

“Sadly that was the path that they took and despite the best efforts of the first responders on the scene … that poor soul succumbed to their injury,” said Lazenby.

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack said the tragedy has left a profound mark on the community.

“I know that this is more than just a building,” he said. “It’s a place where memories were kept and made, where neighbours gathered.”

Smoke was seen seeping from the building on Tuesday morning. 

“It was just kaboom,” said Curtis Martel, who owns Mountain Standard Cannabis in the building.

He said one of his employees was injured.

“Everything blew out,” Martel said. “The ceiling tiles fell down on her. Door blew into her.

“She came outside, phoned me frantic, not knowing what had happened,” he added. “She’s obviously shaken, you know. She is sore.”

Martel said people living above his businesses had only one exit.

He said he, too, felt shaken.

“I’m still trying to come to terms with it. We put a lot of work into the store. (I’m thinking about) the people that were injured and had to live through it.”

Debris and shattered glass covered the parking lot in front of the complex, and officers closed off the nearby street.

Investigators are working to determine why the vehicle hit the building.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, in a statement on social media, said, “My thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the man who lost his life, those who remain unaccounted for, everyone displaced from their homes, and all those affected by this devastating incident.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 14, 2026.