Thirteen residents were displaced from their homes after a fire at a multi-unit residence in the 600 block of St. Felix Street on Saturday.
Cornwall Fire Services sent out a release late Tuesday about the response to the fire, which was called in around 11 p.m. Saturday. The first firefighters arrived on scene to find heavy flames coming from one of the units, and once all firefighters on shift arrived on scene the damage was contained to a single unit. One person was taken by paramedics to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.
Fire investigators have determined the electrical failure of a child’s motorized vehicle caused the fire, but Tuesday’s release also contained strong language regarding the recent spate of structure fires in the city from Fire Chief Matthew Stephenson, and disappointment on the lack of working smoke alarms from Deputy Chief Leighton Woods.
Stephenson is quoted as saying he is not proud this was the sixth residential structure fire in Cornwall in the past three weeks.
“Our fire crews continually encounter situations of missing or non-working smoke alarms,” Woods is quoted as saying. “I challenge all City of Cornwall residents to ensure they have these life-saving devices installed, operational, and regularly tested.”
Landlords are legally responsible for ensuring every residential unit has a working smoke alarm on every storey of every unit; once tenants move in they are responsible for telling their landlords when their alarms are not working or need to be replaced. There has been no mention in the fire services’ recent releases after each fire on whether any charges for missing or inactive alarms are pending or might be laid against landlords or tenants.
The Canadian Red Cross was contacted to assist the 13 displaced residents from this fire until they can safely return to their homes. Firefighters will be canvassing the area on Nov. 9 to provide fire-safety awareness and education under the After the Fire program.