Fire forces evacuation of apartment complex

Staff

Several local agencies pulled together after a fire broke out in Lady Frances Place in the early hours of Sunday morning.

According to the OPP, a call for a fire incident was received at 1:52 a.m. on July 21. The fire was contained to one unit but several other units sustained damage, forcing the evacuation of nine tenants.

Rainy River District Victim Services was called by the OPP to assist the evacuees.

Lady Frances Place is a 10-unit housing complex owned by the District of Rainy River Services Board (DRRSB).

“Thanks to the swift and effective response of emergency services, all tenants were safely evacuated, and no injuries were reported,” said a statement from DRRSB. “Thank you also to the OPP, Rainy River District Paramedic Services, Rainy River District Victim Services and the Red Cross for their assistance and providing immediate support to shelter the nine displaced tenants. Plans to repair the damage and return tenants to their homes are actively underway.”

The fire is believed to be non-suspicious in nature but due to the damage estimate the Ontario Fire Marshal Office was notified, said the OPP.

Interim Fire Chief Dave Robertson is on vacation but gave the Times a brief report on the incident.

“It’s important to dispel any misinformation about it being arson or a Molotov cocktail or firebomb,” Robertson said. “Somebody had heard breaking glass and then fire. This is only a guess, and it’s still under investigation, but very often in fires, especially in a tiny room the heat will reach a point where the glass fails and when the glass fails and introduces oxygen thats where you start seeing more smoke and active flames so that may have been how it was interpreted.”

All of the building’s fire protection systems were operational, which helped to mitigate damage and there are no reports of injuries.

Having looked at the incident report, Robertson praised the work of the Fort Frances Fire Department.

“I’ve gone over the response times and what we call the water on fire time for the crew and it was about as good a property and a life save as you’re going to come across,” Robertson said. “We had a heavy turnout of people showing up on scene. Care for citizens was number one, primary search, making sure no one was trapped was number one and the fire was contained to only one apartment.”