Firefighters had to use ladders to rescue tenants trapped on the upper floors of a burning apartment building in Tillsonburg.
Emergency crews were called by a passerby who spotted flames coming from the building on Lisgar Avenue Tuesday morning.
“Just shortly before 7 a.m., a good Samaritan was walking her dog in a park located nearby, and noticed the fire on the fourth storey balcony, and as a result of quick thinking immediately contacted 9-1-1,” said OPP Acting Sergeant Ed Sanchuk.
Firefighters from several different fire departments arrived on scene to find thick black smoke billowing from the building and flames shooting from a fourth floor window. Fire crews used a ladder and aerial ladder to rescue people from the fourth and fifth floors of the building, Sanchuk said.
Only a couple of minor injuries have been reported.
A warming centre has been set up nearby for tenants displaced by the blaze.
Lisgar Avenue, which was closed for much of the morning, was reopened just before 11 a.m. Local fire officials and members of the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office are expected to remain on scene for much of the day to investigate the cause of the fire.
A damage estimate has not yet been released.
Emergency Services on scene at Lisgar Avenue for fully engulfed apartment fire. Volunteer Firefighters rescuing people trapped on 3rd, 4th and 5th floors. #OPP have roadways closed in the surrounding area. Updates to follow. @OxfordCounty #OxfordOPP ^es pic.twitter.com/uIfHphYS8r
— OPP West Region (@OPP_WR) March 8, 2022
