One person is in critical condition in hospital after a rooming house caught fire in central Brampton overnight.
Peel Regional Police said emergency crews were called to a home on Main Street, north of Queen Street at 2:26 a.m. for a report of flames in a two-storey home.
Fire crews put down the flames and paramedics said several people were found to have suffered smoke inhalation.
One adult victim was sent to a local hospital with minor injuries while a second was sent to hospital in life-threatening condition.
Several others refused transport to hospital.
“When you have a fire call that comes in at the middle of the night and people are outside of the home when fire crews roll up that tells us that more than likely we had some smoke detectors that activated. Which is incredibly important,” Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal Investigator Manny Garcia told CP24 at the scene. “Three individuals did need to be rescued by fire crews but the early detection meant that fire crews could get here earlier as well. So that is all part of the solution. Get the firefighters here in time that they can actually affect a rescue, otherwise it is too late.”
Garcia said that OFM investigators are currently inside the rooming house “painstakingly” going through the rubble to determine precisely where the fire originated.
He said that right now it appears that the building was compliance with the fire code, though it will ultimately be up to investigators to make that determination.
“What we will be looking at is how the building performed fire safety wise to make sure that everything that was supposed to be in place was in place,” noting that the building was licensed to operate as a rooming house.
Main Street was closed between Queen and David streets until 5:45 a.m. to allow for cleanup and an investigation.
