One injured in downtown apartment smoke scare
Preplanning by fire department helped prevent worse damage, chief explains
An electrical issue was to blame for a smoky situation at a downtown highrise apartment Wednesday afternoon.
A “high-heat source” in the electrical room caused smoke but no flames at the Royal Windsor Terrace building on the corner of Park Street West and Pelissier Street, according to Windsor Fire and Rescue Services District Chief Matt Emery. The only residents evacuated were on the fifth floor, where the affected electrical room is located.
Fire crews arrived at the building around 3:30 p.m.
“Tucker Electric came on the scene. They secured the power in the basement to all the residential apartments,” Emery told reporters outside the building. Electricians worked to restore power to the fifth floor, during which time power was turned off for the rest of the building.
Fire crews had completely ventilated smoke from the fifth and sixth floors by 4:45 p.m.
“We’re trying to stay ahead of this,” Emery said about the highheat situation. “We’ve preplanned this building, which is really good for us. That’s why we’re ahead of the game right now.”
On days without an emergency, he said, fire crews visit apartment buildings to preplan by going through every floor to locate things like the pool, gas shut off and diesel generator. Crews also identify how many floors are underground, make sure they can operate the elevators with spare keys and ensure they have a fire safety plan. Pre-planning is done “all the time,” he said.
Emery called the incident at Westcourt Place a “different fire” when asked if the Royal Windsor Terrace situation was similar. An electrical failure in the parking garage beneath the Westcourt building downtown in November forced tenants out, and they have not yet been allowed back in.
One person, an adult woman, was injured in the Royal Windsor Terrace incident when she hit her head while evacuating the fifth floor, Emery said. She was transported to hospital, and the severity of her injuries are unknown.
“Most of the time we go to an apartment fire, we shelter in place unless it’s actually on the fire floor,” Emery said. “We did a quick primary search to make sure everybody was out of that fire floor and we keep everybody to shelter in place. We do evac announcements every five or 10 minutes to update residents.”
The building was without power for about three hours. All residents were able to return to their units by 6:45 p.m. Heat in the common areas and hot water throughout the building continued to function, but power was still off in the suites.
Pelissier Street and Park Street West were closed to traffic in the area for several hours.