Firefighters arrived at the scene in the 1200 block of Argyle Road, just north of Ottawa Street, shortly before 6 a.m. The blaze spread rapidly to neighbouring units after flames reached a shared attic. All six units caught fire, but all occupants were safely evacuated and no injuries were reported.
“We were sleeping and I felt this big jolt like the foundation was shaking,” said Mark McMullen, who lives in the unit immediately next to the one where the fire began. He and his wife evacuated the home with their two-year-old son and called 911 around 5:30 a.m. after seeing smoke outside.
Initially, 44 firefighters were on the scene, with that number down to 28 hitting hotspots around noon. Ten Windsor Fire & Rescue Services vehicles were dispatched. Crews were cycled through to combat the fire through the day, with a windchill below freezing. An aerial ladder was brought in to help extinguish the blaze.
Chief fire prevention officer John Lee said the units in the building, constructed in 1905, did not have fire separation walls in the attic between the units.
“If it were built today, they would be separated all the way up,” he said, adding that, due to the age of the building, the row house is considered a pre-existing “single-family unit” under the Fire Code.
Marilyn Switalski, a resident of one of the units, arrived on the scene around 9 a.m. to find crews hosing down her home.
“I stayed at my boyfriend’s house, and my kids stayed at their father’s house,” said Switalski, shocked by the scene. “This is the first night we haven’t been home this week.”
Firefighters remained on the scene until almost 5 p.m. Saturday. Ontario’s fire marshal was investigating Sunday from noon until 6 p.m., and continued to investigate Monday.
Link to original article in Windsor Star: Fire crews battle $1.2M blaze that rips through six-unit Walkerville row house