Busy week of fires continues with two more blazes

Since Tuesday, firefighters have been called to several incidents across the nation’s capital, a trend that continued late Wednesday into Thursday.

According to officials, a fire broke out at around 5:13 p.m. on Jan. 8 in an area of the city where there are no hydrants, forcing crews to tanker water in from a nearby source.

It happened in the 0-100 block of Panandrick View Drive, a northern and more rural part of Kanata near March Road. When they arrived, firefighters said black smoke and flames were coming from the chimney of the single-family home. A hose line was brought into the house while other crews set up a shuttle system for water.

Everyone had left safely but the home was filled with smoke. Crews tried to salvage the family’s belongings by putting tarps over furniture before spraying water down the chimney. The ceiling needed to be pulled down to extinguish some flames in the attic.

Around 5:40 p.m. the fire was under control and fans were used to air out the building. The family is not displaced since the fire was contained to the area of origin, officials said.

Firefighters were called several hours later at 2:15 a.m. to a fire in a three-storey multi-unit residential building in Centretown West. A resident said their dryer was on fire in the unit.

Smoke and flames were “rolling across” the ceiling on the third-floor unit, a post on X notes. An OC Transpo bus called to the 100 block of Ron Kolbus Private to keep the residents, who all evacuated, out of the cold.

Flames were extinguished and under control at 2:53 a.m. before they could spread to other units.

Three people will be displaced due to the fire and will need victim assistance, officials said.

Fires this week depleting resources

Since Tuesday crews have battled multiple blazes in the city including a barn fire near Pakenham, a townhome fire in Greenboro, a blaze on Ogilvie Road and a high-rise building incident.

To keep resources and crews fresh while attending multiple fires in a short period of time, Nick DeFazio, media officer with Ottawa Fire Services, gives credit to the communications division.

“Any fire pulls in a lot of resources from that specific area, so it’s the job of our communications division to manage basically the city’s truck movement,” he said. “They’re in charge of covering off the areas in the city that might be depleted due to a fire and rearranging (resources).”

Covering off ensures that the department’s stations have active personnel on scene prepped to be called to an incident anytime.

“Our communications division does an excellent job of making sure the city is completely covered off at all times,” DeFazio noted.

Blazes in the bitter cold

The barn fire on Tuesday saw crews on scene for several hours as winds kept fuelling flames. Officials were taking turns warming up from the cold in a bus that was on scene. Within the city limits, OC Transpo is called for residents needing to evacuate, and depending on the situation crews use them as well to keep warm.

Although Ottawa’s firefighters are equipped to battle blazes in all temperatures and conditions, there are some things they have to be wary of in the winter.

DeFazio said that in the winter firefighters need to be aware of runoff water that can easily freeze in frigid temperatures and create an “ice rink.”

“Then we see a lot of slips and falls and injuries,” he said. “The other thing is, equipment tends to malfunction more in the cold.”

Like in the chimney fire on Thursday, firefighters are often tackling flames from the roof and in the winter that can be hazardous.

“Even in Ottawa right now with the fluctuating temperatures the roofs are like sheer ice,” DeFazio said. “We have to take consideration to the safety of our firefighters that they’re not slipping and falling…They got to use roof ladders, or maybe they’ll fight the fire from an aerial ladder instead”