Fire crews from the Bay Street Fire Station responded to reports of smoke emanating from a residential building on Pandora Avenue between Douglas and Blanchard in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Crews arrived at the site at 2:36 a.m. and found smoke and a confined fire that had been controlled by the sprinkler system within the building.
Upon investigation, crews had to force the door to the suite where the fire had originated and located the one occupant of the suite. They carried him out of the building where he was given first aid treatment for severe burns and then rushed to hospital, but no reports as to his condition are available at this time.
Crews remained on the scene to assist with water damage resulting from the incident.
Following the incident, an Emergency Social Services team arrived to assist residents of the building who had been displaced by the fire, although most of the residents of the approximately 26 suites were able to return to their residences as the water damage had been limited to the hallway areas outside their suites.
Damage to the building is estimated at $15,000 but the Fire Department estimates that their quick action saved an estimated $1 million in potential damage. One suite in the building experienced significant fire damage while several other suites and the Beacon Community Thrift Store, located below the suites, all sustained water damage.
