A fatal apartment fire in Ottawa’s Hintonburg neighbourhood has left one man dead and nearly 20 residents displaced.
Emergency crews were called around 6 p.m. Sunday to a three-storey, multi-unit building on Armstrong Street after reports of flames coming from a window and residents trying to escape. Firefighters arrived within minutes to find heavy smoke and active flames originating from a first-floor unit.
During a search of the apartment, crews discovered an unconscious man in his 70s in a bathroom. He was pulled from the building and resuscitation efforts began immediately before paramedics transported him to hospital in critical condition. Officials confirmed Monday that he later died from his injuries.
Later in the evening, paramedics also treated a man in his 60s for smoke inhalation. He was taken to hospital in stable condition.
Firefighters quickly contained the blaze to a bedroom in the first-floor unit, bringing the fire under control by 6:26 p.m. While the flames caused the most severe damage to that unit, smoke spread throughout the building, rendering it uninhabitable. Open doors as residents fled contributed to the rapid movement of smoke and fire.
OC Transpo buses were used to shelter residents from the cold during the response. In total, 19 people were displaced.
The Ontario fire marshal has been called in to investigate the cause of the fire alongside Ottawa fire officials.