Three fires in less than 12 hours: Two pets dead, people treated for minor injuries
Posted Jun 17, 2026 10:23:18 AM.
Last Updated Jun 17, 2026 10:23:22 AM.
Back-to-back calls to Ottawa fire resulted in multiple trucks being dispatched across the city, two dead pets and several people displaced from blazes.
It started around 7:02 p.m. on Tuesday with active alarms ringing in a high-rise apartment building near Centretown. Firefighters were sent to the 100 block of McLeod Street where they could see smoke from the building.
People leaving the area told crews there was a fire on the seventh floor, a press release shared by Nick DeFazio, Ottawa fire’s public information officer, shows. The person from the unit where the flames started was in the lobby but was suffering from smoke inhalation.
One team started treating the person while another went to the seventh floor to extinguish the fire. At 7:16 p.m., the incident was under control and did not spread past the one unit. Although fire crews confirmed no one else was inside the apartment, they did find one dog and a cat dead.
Two people were displaced by the incident.
The second call came just after midnight, from someone in the 100 block of Tacom Circle in Barrhaven, reporting a kitchen fire.
When firefighters arrived, the residents were outside but two cats were still inside the townhouse. While crews doused the flames that were contained to the one room, another group found both cats and brought them safely outside.
A thermal imaging camera was used by emergency responders to confirm the fire did not spread behind the walls. By 12:36 a.m., the fire was under control.
The final call of the 12 hours came into the communications department at 4:30 a.m.
In the incident, crews were told there was a fire in a two-storey townhouse in the 700 block of Belisle Street in Vanier South. When they arrived, “heavy smoke” was coming from the second floor.
The people outside told firefighters everyone had evacuated; however, multiple people needed to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Bringing a hose inside the home, the team encountered thick, black smoke, making it difficult for them to see. They were able to extinguish the flames by 4:51 a.m., and the fire was contained before it could spread to other units.
As a result of the house fire, two adults and two children are displaced.
An Ottawa fire investigator was dispatched to each blaze to incident to determine how it started.
