Hamilton fire releases details of multi-alarm fire which trapped a woman on her roof
Published May 31, 2022 at 6:57 pm
More details have emerged regarding this morning’s fire on East Mountain that trapped a woman on her roof who was rescued by firefighters.
The call came in to the Hamilton Fire Department at 11:18 this morning to report a fence aflame at 102 Royal Vista Ln. They dispatched a fire truck right away, but en route the 911 calls kept flowing into to report the house had also caught ablaze.
HFD upgraded the fire to a first alarm. When the first truck arrived they reported heavy smoke and flames at the back of the house and a person stuck on the roof of the garage.
This first crew brought in a ladder and rescued the woman. She had climbed to the roof from a second-story window. Meanwhile flame continued to climb the back of the house all the way up to the roof.
Fire crews went into the home to begin an “aggressive” response, per Fire Chief David Cunliffe, when the fire broke through the roof of the house.
While the flames were at their height, smoke moved east and covered parts of the city toward Templemead Elementary School. HFD notified school staff who turned off the air handling system and held the students in place.
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Since the fire was growing so aggressively, HFD called in an aerial response. Other crews surrounded the blaze to protect other neighbourhood homes.
After 40 minutes combatting the flames, HFD firefighters brought the blaze under control. However in that time it caused major damage to all levels of the house, the back deck and the fencing.
Fire crews successfully protected neighbouring homes and no firefighters were suffered fire damage. With the fire under control, Templemead lifted it’s hold in place order around 12:30 p.m.
However, one firefighter suffered heat exhaustion, while the woman rescued from the roof suffered smoke inhalation. Hamilton Paramedic Services took them to hospital for treatment.
No other humans were injured in the fire, but sadly a family pet died.
Crews remain on site on fire watch, should a blaze re-erupt, and the Ontario Fire Marshall will soon begin an investigation. The cause of the fire is unknown, but the fire itself caused well more than $500,000 in damage.
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