Man rescued from balcony after highrise apartment building fire
Windsor firefighters used their aerial apparatus to rescue a man from his balcony while smoke poured out of his apartment in the city’s core on Thursday morning. The incident happened at the 14-storey Marine City Apartments building at 1666 Ouellette Ave., on the northeast corner of the intersection with Tecumseh Road.
Emergency personnel responded around 10 a.m. to reports that thick, dark smoke was coming from a unit on the building ’s seventh floor. Several residents were evacuated, but one man appeared to be trapped on his balcony on the south side of the building. Multiple firefighting units were deployed to the scene, including one truck equipped with an extendable aerial ladder and platform.
The man was brought to safety. Windsor Fire and Rescue Services confirmed he suffered from smoke inhalation.
The fire was completely extinguished by 11 a.m. and the situation was brought under control relatively quickly, but traffic at the intersection — one of the city ’s busiest — had to be redirected for more than two hours. An investigation determined that the cause of the fire was accidental, the result of careless cooking.
There was fire damage to the unit, as well as water damage to the units below, with the total estimated at $100,000.
The resident was also treated for minor burns to his hands. All other tenants were able to return to their units.