A person has died as a result of a fire in a three-unit apartment building on Hyland Drive last night. This is the first fatal fire of 2024 in Greater Sudbury.
Greater Sudbury Fire Services said firefighters were dispatched at around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 16 to a three-unit apartment building on Hyland Drive, which connects Regent Street to Riverside Drive. Crews from Downtown, Long Lake, New Sudbury and Minnow Lake were dispatched to the scene.
When crews arrived, Deputy Fire Chief Jesse Oshell said smoke alarms could be heard going off in the building, and two people had to be rescued from a balcony because they were unable to escape the building due to the heavy smoke.
“We rescued them from the balcony and they were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation,” Oshell said.
Crews also managed to rescue another tenant, who was found unconscious in or near their apartment in the basement of the building. That person was taken to hospital where they succumbed to their injuries.
While there is no dollar estimate on damages yet, Oshell said there is significant smoke damage throughout the building, and smoke and flame damage in the basement. This suggests the fire began in the basement, the deputy chief said.
The Ontario Fire Marshal has been called in to investigate.
While the fire was tragic in that a person lost their life, Oshell said a takeaway from the blaze is the fact the building had working smoke detectors, which probably saved other lives.
“The key message is working smoke detectors helped with early detection of this fire."
Mark Gentili is the editor of Sudbury.com.
