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Ottawa Fire Services is reminding highrise building residents how to stay safe in the event of a fire, following two fires in less than 48 hours at a Donald Street highrise.
In a fact sheet posted on social media, the fire service says that, in most cases, the best move is to leave the building as soon as possible, but in some cases that’s not possible.
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If a person can’t leave their apartment, firefighters advise to stay in the unit until they are rescued or told they can leave.
“Do not try to leave your apartment a long time after the alarm has sounded,” the post reads. “The longer you wait, the more risk there is that heavy smoke will have spread into stairways and corridors. Your chances of survival are less.”
Meanwhile, no update was given on either of the two fires that recently occurred at a highrise building at 1244 Donald St., one of which was deemed suspicious and is under investigation by police arson detectives.
The building is home to a large population of Syrian refugees.
About 50 apartments were affected by smoke and water damage during an early morning Thursday fire, which displaced about 200 people. The third-floor fire left one woman and two children in critical condition from smoke inhalation. Five other residents were taken to hospital with less serious injuries and a number of others were treated at the site.
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Deputy fire Chief Nathan Adams said Friday most residents had been allowed to return to their units, but the 56 people who live on the third floor — the place where the fire started — will be out of their homes “for an extended period of time.”
Then, late Friday night, firefighters returned to 1244 Donald St., this time for a fire originating on the building’s sixth floor. No injuries were immediately reported, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Tenants of the highrise have been displaced by several other significant fires over the years.
In August 2011, an explosion in an electrical panel sparked a fire that forced the entire building to find alternative accommodations. They were out of their homes for two days while a temporary generator was set up to supply power to the building.
In February 2017, a fire that broke out on the ninth floor of the highrise displaced hundreds of tenants. Firefighters used ladders to pluck some stranded tenants from their balconies.
In September 2004, an electrical fire at 1240 Donald St., the second highrise in the Capital Towers development, forced 1,000 people from their apartments for months.
With files from Andrew Duffy
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