A destructive house fire is unsettling a central Edmonton neighbourhood, with some residents saying they received notes suggesting their home could face the same fate if they don’t pay up.

Firefighters responded to a house fire in the Cloverdale neighbourhood just after 3 a.m. Sunday, in the area of 97th Avenue and 95th Street.

The residents had already made it out of the home by the time firefighters arrived, according to an Edmonton Fire Rescue Services spokesperson. Adjacent homes were also evacuated, and the fire was declared out around 6 a.m.

People in two nearby homes told CBC they were shaken after finding notes, one in their mailbox and the other on their front steps, telling them to pay money to a cryptocurrency address. The notes point to a neighbour’s loss.

The messages, which CBC News has seen, are written on index cards. The notes, which are mostly written in block letters, appear to be handwritten.

The Edmonton Police Service confirmed to CBC News that they are investigating these incidents and will be sharing more information on Thursday.

CBC News spoke with residents at about two dozen houses on the block. None were willing to speak publicly, citing fears for their safety.

‘It has left us all shaken’

The incident has unnerved local residents, according to Cloverdale Community League president Leigh Wilson.

“This is very unsettling and has created a lot of fear in our neighbourhood,” she wrote in an email to local residents on Wednesday.

Wilson declined an on-camera interview, citing the police investigation.

“We are devastated by what has happened in our community and to our neighbours,” she said in an email to CBC News. “It has left us all shaken.

“We have spoken to the detectives investigating the case and are respecting the space of their active investigation.”

Dan Jones, the justice studies chair at NorQuest College and a former Edmonton police officer, said the extortion that’s been reported in this case is not common.

While there are few details released so far, he said what’s taken place in Cloverdale appears “extremely brazen.”

“These are just folks that are now being extorted at a neighbourhood level, which is not just brazen, that’s … unheard of actually,” he said.

He said that cryptocurrency is hard to trace, which is why it might be used in criminal activity.

Jones said that police are likely trying to determine if there’s forensic evidence they can seize from the scene, working with fire investigators to determine the cause of the fire and looking into who might be behind the threatening notes.