Entire floor of Ottawa apartment building unlivable after fire

There are no injuries reported after a fire in a south-end high-rise, but residents of an entire floor have been left without a place to live.  

Ottawa Fire Services (OFS) responded to an apartment building in the 2900 block of Albion Road around 12:50 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 16.

Multiple 9-1-1 callers had reported a large amount of smoke coming from the 11^th floor.

Fire crews were on scene within five minutes of dispatch and conformed heavy smoke coming from an 11^th floor unit. Firefighters made their way inside the building and were met with heavy smoke conditions once they made it to the 10th floor.

Firefighters located the fire unit and because the door had been left open, all the smoke had billowed out into the hallway. Due to the amount of thick smoke, multiple residents on the 11th floor had to stay in their apartments and could not evacuate from the building.

The fire was found in the kitchen of an apartment, and it was brought under control by 1:40 p.m., before it could spread to any other units.

Two full searches were done of the fire unit and the hallway, and no occupants were found.

Firefighters helped multiple residents evacuate from other floors using the stairwells and an extensive ventilation operation was conducted to remove all the smoke from the building.

OFS said the 11^th floor is uninhabitable due to the fire, but a damage estimate was not released.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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— Ottawa Fire Services (@OttFire) October 16, 2024