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Two Ottawa firefighters narrowly escaped injury Friday when a floor collapsed while they were battling a blaze in a bungalow in the city’s west end.
Firefighters were alerted at 7:37 a.m. when a 911 caller reported smoke coming from the doors, windows and chimney of a single-family bungalow in the 1000 block of Southwood Drive near Iris Street.
Responding teams immediately called for additional resources to the scene.
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It was confirmed the fire began in the basement before spreading to the rest of the home.
Shortly after firefighters made their way inside, the first floor collapsed and two firefighters tumbled into the basement.
Both firefighters managed to free themselves and were not injured.
The collapse prompted the remaining firefighters to get out of the residence and they fought the fire from the outside.
The homeowners were confirmed to be out of town. No injuries were reported.
Several areas of the home were opened up using chainsaws, enabling teams to attack the flames that had spread from the basement through the interior walls and the attic of the home.
The fire was declared under control at 8:42 a.m.
OC Transpo sent a bus to the scene to allow crew members to warm up while rotating personnel in and out of the fire fight.
A “fire watch” was established to have a crew remain on scene to monitor for hot spots and an Ottawa Fire Services investigator was dispatched to determine the cause of the blaze.
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