Pembroke – A potentially fatal result of an apartment fire was averted Thursday morning thanks to the quick action of other residents of the building who spotted the danger and alerted the fire department.
Chief Scott Selle said two occupants of an apartment directly below the apartment where the fire originated very possibly would not have made it out alive had it not been for the action of other tenants in the building.
He said the Pembroke Fire Department (PFD) received a report of smoke coming from a second-floor apartment at the corner of Pembroke Street East and Catherine St. at about 9:46 a.m. and responded with a pumper and the duty crew. Chief Selle also attended the scene.
When firefighters arrived, smoke was visible from the windows of a second-floor unit. The fire was quickly extinguished.
“When they arrived, it was pretty much just a smouldering fire,” Chief Selle explained. “It had done quite a bit of damage, but it wasn’t flaming.”
Damage was limited to the room of origin, but the fire extended into the unit below which sustained minor damage.
“The issue we were dealing with after the fact was the damage to the structure and the unit underneath and trying to ensure that the two elderly ladies in the apartment below were taken care of,” the chief explained.
He said one of the two women was completely immobile, while her sister required a walker to get around.
“They had just moved in two days before, so all of their belongings were still in boxes in that unit” he said. “My firefighters went in and made sure it was out and then I went in and assisted moving them out because they couldn’t stay in there.”
He added a nurse who works with the one woman was also on scene, and she assisted in helping remove her from the unit.
“Chief Selle said the unit where the fire started had no working smoke detectors.
“A neighbour from the first-floor apartment was outside, and it was lucky they were outside and smelled the smoke,” he said. “If they weren’t home, that fire could have easily burned through the ceiling, and dropped into the living room where the poor woman who is immobile was, and those two ladies easily could have perished in there.”
The occupants of the unit where the fire started self evacuated.
The chief extended his thanks to the fast-acting neighbours who called 911.
“Their actions limited the damage but most importantly saved the lives of the two tenants who occupied the apartment below,” he said
Chief Selle reported three of the 11 occupants who were in the building at the time of the fire, were displaced. The local branch of the Red Cross assisted with getting them temporary accommodations.
A total of seven firefighters with three apparatus responded to the incident.
The investigation into the cause and origin of this fire is ongoing by the department and Upper Ottawa Valley Ontario Provincial Police officers.