A Monday morning house fire in west Kitchener has left one woman dead.
Officials say a small fire broke out in a fifth-floor apartment at 50 Mooregate Crescent shortly after 10 a.m.
“We heard the alarm. My boyfriend was rushing, I was like ‘It’s going to be fine’ and we went out and the whole floor was full of smoke,” said Danielle Miller, who lives on the fifth floor of the building.
The fire set off an alarm, but by the time firefighters responded, they found that the fire had been put out by building employees with blankets.
“Firefighters made entry into the unit and found a fire that had been extinguished. As a result of the fire that occurred, we do hae one deceased person,” deputy Kitchener fire chief Steve Usher told CTV.
Residents of the apartment building say they were told to stay in their units via the building’s PA system.
“It’s so scary. I’m on the third floor, they’re on the fifth floor … thinking that could travel to my floor, and I had my cat in there too,” said resident Amanda Bright.
Building employees were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. Usher says they refused offers of transportation to hospital.
The Ontario Fire Marshal has been called to the scene along with detectives.
Damage to the apartment is not believed to be extensive. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
