Tragedy struck a Belleville high-rise over the weekend.
Belleville Fire and Rescue responded to a 911 call just after 3 a.m. Sunday at Pineview Towers apartments on Bridge Street West.
Deputy Fire Chief Paul Patry says units from fire stations one and two responded to the call. “We responded with five apparatus and 14 fire fighters and we discovered a fire on the 15th floor.”
The fire department managed to contain the fire to the unit where it started.
Belleville Police Staff Sergeant Rene Aubertin says one man was found dead in the unit.
“Unfortunately in that apartment they did find one male adult deceased. We have assigned a criminal investigator to follow up with the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office.”
Aubertin says police are not yt releasing any more information about the victim. “The person has been identified positively and we’re working through notifying all the next of kin at this point.”
The cause of death is still being determined and Aubertin says the coroners office has been called in. “A postmortem will be taking place, it’s my understanding, I believe today, and the investigation will go from there. ”
Fire officials say determining a cause to the fire and the amount of damage done will begin when an investigator from Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal arrives from Guelph.
Patry says this fire, and another fire in Oshawa that claimed four lives on Monday, highlights the importance of having working smoke alarms.
“It’s a little premature to determine whether the home had working smoke alarms or not. But again, I would like to remind the public to be sure for your safety that you practice a home escape drill and to have working smoke alarms on all levels of your home.”