The downstairs tenant in a Lasalle Boulevard duplex that caught fire overnight was forced to escape out of a basement window, Greater Sudbury Fire Services Deputy Fire Chief Jesse Oshell told Sudbury.com this morning.
Fortunately, neither the tenant or the owner who lived upstairs were injured in the blaze, which caused around $150,000 in damage.
Oshell said the fire department was called out to the scene at around 2 a.m. Thursday morning. The residence is located past the intersection of Lasalle and Falconbridge, near Campeau Heating.
Firefighters helped the tenant escape from the basement window.
“The fire had blocked their primary exit,” Oshell said.
“Once that occurred, we immediately began to suppress the fire and get a search of the entire two units to ensure there were no other life safety concerns, that there was no one trapped inside, and everyone had made it outside, which they had.”
Firefighters were able to fully put out the fire and leave the scene by around 6 a.m. this morning.
Oshell said the fire started outside, at the back of the residence, and then travelled up into the roof. It’s suspected that the fire’s cause was the careless discarding of cigarette butts.
“(The occupants) were alerted to the fire by someone who saw it passing by because it was burning outside of the home,” he said, adding that both units also had working smoke alarms. “We certainly commend those who see that and then take action to alert any potential occupants inside the home.”
The owner and tenant were both displaced by the fire, and both were able to find alternate accommodations, and did not need to be put up in a hotel by the Red Cross.
