A house fire in Hamilton early Wednesday morning left three people injured, including a firefighter, and prompted a dramatic rescue attempt by a passing city worker. Fire crews were called to the home near Main Street East and Kenilworth Avenue North just before 7:15 a.m. as smoke poured from the property.
A Hamilton Public Works employee who happened to be at a nearby bus stop saw the smoke and ran over to the house. According to fire officials, he went inside twice to try to reach a person who was on the floor in the front hall, but each time he was driven back by the overwhelming smoke.
The worker described the conditions in harrowing terms. He said he could not even see the door because of how thick the smoke was, calling it a wall of black moving toward him. He took a mouthful of smoke and was forced to step back before he could reach the person inside.
On another attempt, he got down low to the floor and was finally able to see her. He said he crawled toward the woman and was urging her to crawl along with him, trying to guide her out of the burning home before the smoke once again forced him to retreat.
Fire crews arrived shortly afterward and were able to get the blaze under control in around 20 minutes. The fire chief said firefighters rescued two occupants from inside the home, both of whom were then treated by Hamilton paramedics at the scene.
One of the firefighters was hurt during the rescue itself. Officials said the firefighter injured themselves while bringing a person down the stairs, but was able to complete the rescue before receiving medical care from paramedics at the scene.
All three of the injured, the two occupants and the firefighter, were transported to Hamilton hospitals. The city worker who first tried to help was treated by paramedics on scene and then taken to hospital as well. The Ontario Fire Marshal has been called in to investigate the cause of the blaze.