A man whom firefighters pulled from a burning apartment complex on Bessie Avenue on Tuesday afternoon later died of his injuries in hospital, a Greater Sudbury Fire Services spokesperson has confirmed.
Deputy fire chief Jesse Oshell said firefighters rescued the man from the burning building, but he was already in medical distress.
“We performed life-saving actions and, once paramedic services arrived, they transported the individual to hospital, where we were told they succumbed to an injuries,” Oshell told The Sudbury Star.
Firefighters were dispatched around 1:30 p.m. to the three-unit complex on Bessie, following reports of smoke and flames coming from one of the units, Oshell said.
When crews arrived, they were told one person was still inside the residence.
An investigator from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office attended the scene and had yet to issue a final report as of Thursday morning, but Oshell said early indications are the fire was not suspicious. He pointed to careless cooking as a potential cause.
“Careless cooking remains a No. 1 cause of fires within the community,” he said. “We want to ensure that all of our residents are being cautious and careful in the kitchen and they have working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. Those devices are proven to save lives and are absolutely required in the home.”
Six additional people were displaced by the fire. Oshell said some were able to stay with family or friends, while others have been in contact with Red Cross.
There was “significant smoke and fire damage” to the structure, the deputy chief added, with upwards of $150,000 in damage.
“As we are going through a spell of colder weather and those temperatures remain quite frigid, there’s lots of use of heaters, heating appliances and potentially having open flames, so we want to be very cautious and careful when using those devices,” Oshell said. “Any time you’re doing any cooking and using anything with an open flame for heating, you want to make sure you’re present to monitor that situation.”