Eleven people were taken to hospital, four of whom are in critical condition after a fire at an apartment building in Bradford, Ont., Monday afternoon, officials say.
Bradford fire Chief Jim Kay confirmed the news in an update provided Monday evening and said that residents of the building on Holland Street West are currently displaced.
“It was reported that fire was coming out of the fifth floor. People were trapped on various balconies,” Kay said, adding that emergency crews were called just before 2 p.m.
“First crews arriving were faced with a lot of smoke and flame coming out of the fifth floor.”
Kay said crews rescued 11 people from balconies. He said the building houses 84 apartments and displaced residents have since gone to the Danube Seniors Leisure Centre in Bradford.
Two ambulances, one supervisor and one multi-patient unit bus from York Region Paramedic Services were also sent to the scene during the blaze, paramedics said.
Kay said there is structural damage on the fifth and sixth floors of the eight-storey building and an engineer will need to conduct an inspection before determining when and how much of the building can be occupied again.
“It could be long term for the folks on the fifth and sixth floor but hopefully not for the entire building,” he said, but cautioned that will all be determined by the engineer’s inspection.
There is no word on what may have caused the blaze. The Ontario Fire Marshal will be assisting Bradford fire with the investigation.
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