‘Smoke was billowing through the halls’
Apartment fire in Stoney Creek displaces 35 people; chief lauds quick-thinking residents
Thirty-five people in Stoney Creek are without heat or water after a fiery blaze late Wednesday tore through a seniors’ apartment building and left millions of dollars worth of damage in its path.
At least 50 firefighters responded to 110 Stoney Brook Dr., just off King Street East and parallel to Westbury Avenue, shortly after 6:55 p.m. for a three-alarm structure fire at a three-storey accessible building.
The blaze — which could be seen from kilometres away — started on a third-floor balcony on the west side of the 60-unit building before it quickly picked up pace and extended beyond the roof, said Chief Dave Cunliffe of the Hamilton Fire Department.
“It was a very aggressive fire, rapidly building,” Cunliffe told reporters at an impromptu news conference on Stoney Brook. “You could see the smoke bloom from the Hamilton Mountain.”
Cunliffe said crews were “very fortunate” to largely contain the blaze to one end of the structure.
“We did not see any injuries or fatalities, and that’s on the quick thinking of the residents to selfevacuate as well as the firefighters to get this fire out.”
The western wing of the building, comprising more than twodozen units, bore the brunt of the damage.
A portion of the structure has its roof completely totalled and balconies charred. About 30 apartments have sustained heavy fire or water damage. Five of them — ones that sat just below the roof — have been reduced to near rubble.
The Office of Fire Marshal was on scene Thursday afternoon and said a cause has yet to be found.
“It’ll be a bit of time before I can give an accurate determination,” said investigator Kevin Stuart. “We still have to do scientific preliminary work on some items in the apartments.”
Stuart pegged the damage to be in the range of $1.5 million and $3 million.
Aerial fire crews remained at the building for several hours to douse a fire so potent that one tenant likened it to “a tinderbox.”
More than 100 tenants flooded onto the street at sundown under the backdrop of thick, black smoke and ringing alarms.
Sandy Dunlop lives on the second floor. She heard an alarm, then chatter.
“I open the door and smoke was billowing through the halls,” she said. “I came outside and it was like a tinderbox.”
David Hall, executive director of Stoney Creek Community Homes Inc., said Thursday the buses took some displaced tenants to a hotel while others found lodging with family.
“We’re not sure how long they’ll be affected,” said Hall, noting the eastern end of the building with 30 units and built separately from the western wing survived the fire relatively unscathed.
Abbey Cole, whose grandmother lives on the first floor of 110 Stoney Brook, said a relief station for displaced residents has been set up in the lobby of the Courtyard by Marriot at 1224 Upper James St. Donations have come aplenty. Cole said dozens of bags of clothing, socks, underwear and coats — as well as denture cleaners and hygiene supplies — were dropped off at the hotel in a matter of hours early Thursday. Gianna’s Gourmet Catering, Good Shepherd, Fiesta Mall Fortinos and Julia’s Bistro, meanwhile, have offered relief by way of free meals and delivery.
“A lot of them haven’t been able to get anything from the building — purses, wallets, shoes. My grandmother hasn’t gotten her oxygen tank,” said Cole.