Man injured in blaze still in hospital, condition unknown
The cause of a basement apartment fire from which Port Colborne firefighters rescued a man Saturday night is undetermined, say officials.
On Monday fire Chief Scott Lawson said the man’s condition after being rescued from Canalview Apartments at 637 King St. is still unknown.
He said fire investigators believe the occupant took down a smoke alarm inside the unit on the southwest corner of the building.
Though an older building, it had a fire alarm system, pull stations and smoke detectors in units.
Lawson said residents should leave smoke alarms, mandatory under Ontario’s fire code, in place.
Firefighters responded to the three-storey, 12-unit building at 4 p.m. after someone reported seeing smoke from basement apartment windows.
“The first crew on scene saw flames coming from the window. During suppression, a resident was found and removed by firefighters. He was put in the care of (Niagara) EMS,” the chief said Saturday.
Wainfleet firefighters, with Chief Morgan Alcock and Deputy Chief Shawn Schutten, responded to the call to assist Port Colborne.
Lawson called the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal (OFM) Saturday to see if it would investigate the blaze alongside fire prevention officer Charles Turpin.
OFM investigates large loss fires of $500,000 and greater, fires in multi-unit residential occupancies, and those that result in a fatality or serious injury requiring a person to be admitted as an in-patient to a hospital.
“OFM showed up Sunday. They said there were a couple of possible things to pick from as the cause of the fire from the area it was in.”
Lawson said that’s why the cause has been listed as undetermined.
“The property was turned back over to the owner late Sunday.”
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