Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) has confirmed another death connected with a mid-February multiple-alarm residential blaze in central Hamilton.
A spokesperson from the City of Hamilton said the body was discovered during an ongoing investigation into the incident, which destroyed a two-storey rooming home on Century Street near Ashley and Wentworth Street North.
It’s the second fatality from the occurrence, which saw a floor collapse in the rear portion of the house.
The OFM says the body was discovered on the third floor when heavy equipment was removing “unsafe” parts of the home on Thursday that had been previously inaccessible after the blaze.
“After the roof was removed, and the third floor was in the process of being dismantled, a second body was located,” city spokesperson Lauren Vastano told Global News in an email.
“The body was found in an area of the house that during interior firefighting operations, our firefighters were unable to access due to the interior structural collapse and heavy fire involvement.”
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Crews were called out to the home on Century just before 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 17.
Paramedics say five other people were sent to hospitals during the incident with one person trapped on the second floor having to be rescued by firefighters.
The estimated cost of damage to the residence was in excess of $850,000.
The OFM has been assisting local firefighters with an investigation and say the on-scene portion was completed Saturday with a post-scene investigation expected to continue for several months.
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