An elderly man and a cat have died and another woman is critically injured following a fire in Hamilton, paramedics say.
The fire ignited at a four-storey apartment building located at 1266 Fennell Ave. East, between Princeton Drice and Shirley Street, early Thursday morning.
Hamilton Fire Chief Dave Cunliffe said when their crews responded to the scene, they encountered heavy smoke and flames emanating from an apartment on the fourth floor, at the back of the building.
“Immediately, firefighters entered the building and made their way to the fourth floor to initiate search and rescue and firefighting operations,” Cunliffe said in a news release, adding the crew encountered “high heat” when they approached the unit the fire was coming from.
In there, they found a woman in the living room in critical condition. Paramedics confirmed she is in her 80s, and brought her to a local trauma centre. She is now in stable condition, Cunliffe said.
“The second person (a male) was located in the bedroom where the fire occurred and sadly, succumbed to their injuries,” Cunliffe said. Paramedics said he was also in his 80s.
They did not confirm what relationship, if any, the two victims had.
Hamilton Fire confirmed they brought the flames under control and contained the fire, but said the apartment sustained extensive damage. They estimate cost of the damage to be somewhere in the $150,000 range.
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
The Office of the Fire Marshal has been notified.
