Damage slows probe of fire on Century Street
Hamilton averaged nearly one house fire per day in January, an increase of 16% over the same period last year
An Ontario Fire Marshal (OFM) investigator says there doesn’t appear to have been working smoke alarms in the Century Street home that went up in flames last Friday, killing one and sending five others to hospital.
“At this point we don’t have any evidence there were any (alarms) in the home,” investigator Mike Ross said Monday.
Ross cautioned the probe remains in its infancy and investigators haven’t yet been able to fully scan the rooming house at 69 Century St., near Wentworth and Wilson streets. That’s due to serious concerns with the structural integrity of the two-and-a-half storey home, which was decimated and had large portions of its flooring collapse during the powerful blaze, he said.
At least nine people were in the house when it quickly became engulfed around 9:20 a.m. Friday, spurring the chaotic escapes of various residents.
Three people had to be rescued via ground ladders — two from the roof of a home next door, and one who was hanging from a second-floor window. A fourth person, standing on a porch roof, jumped about three metres to the ground to flee the heat just as crews arrived. Five others managed to get out on their own.
Hamilton firefighters had been dousing the blaze for a few hours when, just before noon, police notified them of a person believed to still be inside the home. Hours later, after ensuring safe entry into the structure, crews found that person dead on what was left of the structure’s second floor.
The victim’s identity has yet to be released.
On Monday, a bouquet of flowers could be seen at the front of the charred home, which sustained around $850,000 in damages.
OFM investigators have now been on scene for four consecutive days.
Much of what they hoped to learn about the blaze has been hampered by structural concerns, said Ross, adding equipment from the city will be brought in this week to clear out compromised sections and ensure safe entry.
The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined. Ross couldn’t confirm if it’s considered suspicious.
The blaze marked the second fatal fire in as many months in Hamilton.
On Dec. 29, four people — including two young children — were killed after a fire in a townhouse at 14 Derby St. on the east Mountain. The OFM found there were no working smoke alarms in the unit.
The deadly fires have spurred safety pleas from provincial and local fire officials, who say having functioning smoke alarms in your home could mean the difference between life and death.
“If there’s no detection, there’s no time to get out because no one recognized there’s a fire,” Ross said.
“Without early warning, you have virtually minutes to escape,” Chief Dave Cunliffe of the Hamilton Fire Department said Friday. “It’s important to have working smoke alarms and to take responsibility to protect yourself.”
The warning is pertinent given Hamilton experienced 28 structure fires between Jan. 1 and 30 — an average of nearly one per day and an increase of 16 per cent from the same period last year, according to Hamilton fire.
And that was on top of a 2022 that saw the city experience 323 fires, the most since 2013. Eight people died in Hamilton fires last year, more than in the three previous years combined.
It’s part of a concerning spike that spans the province. OFM data shows 133 people died in Ontario fires in 2022, up from 85 in 2013.
“Fires are burning hotter and faster these days,” Cunliffe said.