Crews protect neighbours as fire destroys home near MacLaren's Landing
Firefighters arrived in frigid conditions to find house in flames and `a total loss'
A fire destroyed a home in the MacLaren's Landing area of Ottawa's rural west end Thursday night, but the residents were able to escape to the safety of a neighbour's house as firefighters battled the flames in frigid temperatures.
A second fire in a Carlington apartment Friday morning left one person with smoke inhalation.
At 8:53 p.m. Thursday, Ottawa Fire Services received multiple 911 calls reporting a fire at the rear of a home on Riverwood Drive between Woodkilton Road and Willow Bank Place.
Arriving firefighters found the two-storey house in flames and it was “a total loss,” OFS said in a media release.
The fire was under control at 10:21 p.m.
Crews were able to protect neighbouring properties and remained on the scene late into the night to overhaul the wreckage.
There were no reported injuries, but paramedics were on the scene to support firefighters as they worked in plunging temperatures.
An Ottawa fire services investigator was on hand to determine the cause of the fire and the Canadian Red Cross and Salvation Army offered help to the residents.
At 4:38 a.m. Friday, firefighters were summoned by an alarm and multiple 911 calls reporting smoke and red light from a unit in a six-storey apartment building on Lepage Avenue between Kirkwood Avenue and Cavan Street.
Firefighters doused a small fire with a “fast attack,” but the unit was uninhabitable.
One person was treated on the scene for smoke inhalation, paramedics said.
A fire investigator was dispatched to determine the cause and the Canadian Red Cross and Salvation Army would be helping those affected, the fire department said in a release.