A woman was without vital signs at the scene after being pulled from an apartment fire in Scarborough on Sunday morning.
The fire broke out inside a second floor unit at a building near Bellamy Road and Cedar Brae Boulevard at around 11 a.m.
Chief Mathew Pegg tells CP24 that crews forced entry into the apartment upon arrival and quickly began a search of the premises. It was during that search that the woman was located, he said.
“She was immediately rescued and removed from the apartment but she was vital signs absent upon being brought outside,” he said. “Our crews very quickly transferred her to the care of Toronto paramedics and she was transported to Scarborough General where we are awaiting an update on her condition. Our thoughts and prayers are with this patient.
Pegg said that crews were confronted by heavy smoke that was visible from the exterior of the building when they first arrived on scene.
He said that they then made an “aggressive interior attack” and were quickly able to knock down the fire before it could spread to adjoining units.
Though the blaze was knocked down relatively quickly, Pegg said that it was a taxing call for firefighters as temperatures were approaching 30 C at the time.
“It was very hot today and this type of incidents is tough on our people in those type of conditions so we need to make sure our firefighters get rehydrated and that we can keep their core temperatures safe,” he said. “They need some time to cool down and get some hydration and then we will get them back in service.”
Pegg said that it is too early to speculate on the cause of the fire.
He said that Toronto Fire Services investigators are en route to the scene now and are likely to be joined by investigators from the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal as well.
“One of the most important things for us once we get a fire under control,is to find out exactly what happened, what caused this fire, what contributed it and then of course what we can do in the future to prevent this kind of thing,” he said.
