Investigators from the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal and Orillia OPP are at the scene of yesterday's residential fire at the corner of Westmount Drive South and George Street today.
The blaze claimed the life of a dog and sent his owner to the hospital.
Orillia Fire Chief Michael Clark was also on hand to participate in the investigation on Friday morning.
"The fire marshals were called in because we had a patient who was admitted to the hospital," he explained. "If somebody is sent to the hospital where they potentially may be overcome by their injuries, then the fire marshal makes a determination whether they're going to come."
"He was still within the unit when we arrived," he explained. "Even after we arrived, we had to force the front door which took us about a minute."
Clark says the man was in his unit for a "few minutes" with the fire.
"When he was initially brought out, I didn't think he was alive," he said. "But he started to come around and was given oxygen."
OPP say he is now in stable condition.
Clark says the cause of the fire is uncertain, but it appears to have originated from a couch. There is no damage estimate to report and investigators don't suspect anything suspicious.
There are four apartments in the 91 Westmount Dr. S. residential building. Residents were allowed back into their units hours after the fire. Heat and smoke damage was contained to the unit where the fire started, Clark noted.
There were 14 Orillia firefighters who responded to the call just after 2:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. The first two to arrive were rookies, one of whom was on his first call as a full-time firefighter.
"They handled it perfectly," Clark said.