Fatal fire on Weber Street contained to single apartment unit

One person has died after a single-unit apartment fire on Weber Street in Kitchener.

Emergency crews were called to the multi-unit residential building around 2:50 p.m. Sunday.

They were met with heavy smoke and flames when they arrived, according to officials.

Police said a 56-year-old man was found dead while crews were extinguishing the blaze.

The fire was contained to the one unit and no one else was hurt or displaced.

Officials estimate the cost of damage to be around $100,000.

Regional police and the Ontario Fire Marshal were both called in to investigate.

The cause of fire and cause of death have yet to be been determined and aren’t believed to be suspicious, but officials said the blaze appeared to have originated from a cooking incident.

"We are probably looking at a cause associated with a contact ignition with clothing to a kitchen stovetop," Tom Ruggle, chief fire prevention officer with the City of Kitchener told CTV News.

A statement from the Region of Waterloo said the building at 140 Weber St. has 35 units across three floors.

"Each unit has smoke and CO alarms and the building is monitored by a third party monitoring company," the statement said in part. "The building’s fire system is tested monthly with full inspections occurring annually as per the Fire Code. Housing services staff continue to provide support to building tenants as the investigation continues."

Sunday marked the second time the apartment building had caught on fire in just over a year. In January of 2021, a previous fire caused $150,000 worth of damages.

Investigators determined last year's fire was caused by careless smoking. No injuries were reported, but one person was displaced due to the extensive damage.