Fire in Petrolia, Ont. displaces residents
An early morning fire on Greenfield Street in Petrolia caused residents to scramble to safety Friday morning.
“Everybody was running around trying to get out of the apartment to get saved and it was chaos,” said Chris Preston, who lives in one of the apartments.
According to Fire Chief Jay Arns, the blaze started outside the building on the lower level of the two story walk-up.
“Crews arrived on scene and we had a fully involved porch area. A couple of storage rooms and some equipment that was on fire. So, quick knock down, the crews made entry right away,” he said.
The building is a community housing residence owned by Lambton County, and many of the residents were alarmed.
“As I was coming out [of the] apartment, the whole place inside was all smoky and you couldn’t really see, so I don't know exactly how it started, I didn't hear nothing or see anything or smell anything unusual. Just, it was all chaos. It was pretty, pretty scary,” Preston said.
Some elderly people on the second floor needed assistance to evacuate, according to Arns.
“We had to rescue…two people trapped on balconies. So we laddered the buildings and rescued the two people from the balconies and a large number of pets that were still inside the building,” he said.
Following the evacuation, residents were moved to the Greenwood Recreation Centre where they have been cared for since. Now, Lambton County Housing Services is hopeful that residents will be able to return to their apartments by the end of the day.
“I just did an air quality run through the building and we've got good readings all throughout. So yeah, residents will be able to get back in and now it's up to the cleanup crews to get some cleanup done. But because there was no apartments directly affected, then it should be a little bit quicker getting them back in,” said Arns.
The residents that have been displaced are just grateful no one was injured and they will be able to return to their homes soon.
“I’m so thankful for all the helpers and the fire people they really did an excellent job last night they worked hard and saving everybody,” Preston said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and a damage estimate has not been assessed yet.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say
TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S., four sources said.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Improve balance and build core strength with this exercise
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.