A man was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition after a fire broke out Sunday night in a seven-storey apartment building on Gladstone Avenue.
The man, in his 70s, had suffered critical smoke inhalation and severe burns, an Ottawa Paramedic Service spokesperson said.
A second man, in his 80s, was found in a different apartment, and also suffered smoke inhalation, but he was taken to hospital in stable condition, the spokesperson said.
Ottawa Fire Services said in a social media post that it had received a call from a monitoring agency at about 9:28 p.m. reporting active fire alarms at the building in the 200 block of Gladstone.
Crews arrived on the scene within two minutes of being dispatched, the fire service said, and confirmed that fire alarms were sounding throughout the building, with the alarm panel indicating the alarm had been triggered on the fourth floor.
Firefighters moved up the stairwell, where a resident evacuating the building told them the fourth floor was filled with smoke. After arriving on that floor, crews ran into heavy black smoke that created zero-visibility conditions.
Firefighters managed to locate the unit that was the source of the fire and advanced a hose line inside. Flames were found in the kitchen, but they were contained before they could spread. The fire was deemed to be under control at 10:04 p.m.
While searching the apartment, a person was found unconscious on the floor, with firefighters then carrying them down to the lobby where assessment and treatment of their injuries began.
A search of all fourth-floor apartments was conducted, and any remaining residents were taken down the stairwell to safety, the fire service said.
An Ottawa Fire Services investigator was sent to the apartment building to determine the cause and origin of the fire.
Our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark our homepage and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed.
