High-rise balcony fire in Vanier doused quickly

Firefighters are crediting a speedy and coordinated response for the reason why flames did not spread past one apartment.

Crews were called around 7:39 p.m. by a monitoring agency at a large apartment building in the 100 block of McArthur Avenue on Wednesday. Multiple more 911 callers confirmed the blaze, telling the communications division it was on the fourth floor.

Within four minutes, teams were on the ground and worked their way up to a unit with a balcony. Residents were evacuating, while another crew searched to make sure everyone had left.

Dousing the flames less than 10 minutes after arriving, firefighters were able to make sure it was contained to the balcony and didn’t spread. No one was injured in the incident, and teams stayed to ventilate the building before people could return.

Fatal fire shakes community

This incident follows a prior high-rise fire in the nation’s capital this past week, where three people died.

On March 14, firefighters were called by multiple people to the  300 block of Somerset Street West. People reported a fire on the 19th floor of a high-rise apartment building. One caller told officials they were trapped by the intense heat on the balcony of the apartment on fire.

Paramedics told CityNews in an email that one man was pronounced dead on scene, a second man was transported to hospital in critical condition where he died.

The third person, a woman, was also sent to hospital in critical condition

Ottawa police confirmed on Tuesday the third person died in hospital.