An investigation into the cause of a fire in Sarnia that left one person with life-threatening injuries is underway, according to The Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal (OFM). The fire broke out overnight in a multi-residential building at the corner of Devine Street and Vidal Street.
Reta Maness, a resident of the building, was the first to notice the fire. She was alerted by the sound of crackling and her cats, and when she went outside, she saw smoke billowing from her neighbor’s unit. Maness immediately called 911, and fire crews arrived shortly after, rescuing a man from a lower unit.
Irene Flory, who lives nearby, described witnessing the aftermath. She saw the man being pulled from the building and given CPR on the grass, where he had collapsed. He was later taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The building contains 13 units with at least a dozen residents. No one else was injured, and the fire did not spread to other units. Tenant Jon Vanpraet, who lives next door, expressed his distress over the situation, noting the added stress of power outages and the disruption to the tenants’ lives.
OFM lead investigator Russ Morningstar confirmed that the fire was contained to one bedroom of the lower unit at 280 Devine Street. Investigators are focusing on fire safety measures, particularly the failure of the smoke alarm to activate. The estimated damage is between $50,000 and $100,000.