Fire in central Hamilton sends two to hospital

Careless smoking suspected cause of blaze

Two people were taken to hospital in stable condition following an early-morning structure fire Thursday on Balmoral Avenue North that caused about $1 million in damage.

The fire began in a first-floor bedroom of 193 Balmoral Ave., a threestorey apartment building at Cannon Street East, said Chief Dave Cunliffe of the Hamilton Fire Department. The suspected cause is “careless use of smoker’s material.”

Emergency services were called to the building around 6:45 a.m. and reported heavy smoke and fire coming out of a first-floor window,

he said in a news release. Flames were lapping up the face of the building.

Residents had already left the building by the time crews arrived, Cunliffe said. This included three residents from the top-floor unit fleeing to the roof of the neighbouring building; firefighters helped them to the ground. No one was living on the second floor.

The call was upgraded to multiple-alarm, drawing resources from across the city. It took firefighters upward of 25 minutes to bring the fire under control.

Two people who escaped from the first-floor unit were taken to hospital.

Hamilton paramedics assessed six people on scene, and transported two to hospital in stable condition, said Supt. Dave Thompson. One was a teenaged girl who was taken for smoke inhalation, and the other a woman in her 40s with “musculoskeletal” injuries.

Two children (both girls), a teenaged boy and a man in his 40s were checked on by paramedics at the scene, he said.

Balmoral was closed between Roxborough and Campbell avenues, and Cannon was closed between Grosvenor and Rosslyn avenues for several hours, but have all since reopened.

The call was upgraded to multiplealarm, drawing resources from across the city