The quick thinking of a pair of Good Samaritans, coupled with the fast response from emergency responders, helped ensure a tragic fire in Bradford did not become even worse.
Officials say two men used a garden hose to try to hold the fire back until firefighters arrived on the scene.
Bradford West Gwillimbury firefighters were on the scene of the blaze just four minutes after receiving a 911 call.
They arrived to find a fire had erupted in a ground-floor suite of the apartment building at 33 Centre St.
Upon arrival, the priority was searching for occupants, said Deputy Chief Olaf Lamerz.
Firefighters quickly located a woman and did their best to stabilize her until paramedics arrived.
The Simcoe County paramedics took the woman to a nearby hospital and she was later transported to a Toronto trauma centre. There, the 72-year-old woman succumbed to her injuries. Her identity has not been released.
The woman's husband was not in the suite at the time of the blaze. However, he returned while firefighters were extinguishing the fire. He is staying with a family member.
Lamerz said it appears the fire started in the living room. While the cause remains under investigation, it does not appear to be suspicious, said Lamerz, who estimated the damage at between $100,000 and $150,000.
However, the damage to the building could have been much worse.
The fact that the blaze broke out in a ground-floor unit allowed firefighters to quickly access the suite through a patio door; they brought the fire under control quickly.
"If it had been a fourth-floor apartment," the outcome could have been different, he noted.
Lamerz also praised the swift actions of other tenants in the building, who quickly evacuated and "ensured all the doors were closed behind them." That simple action kept the flames and smoke from spreading throughout the building.
"The fire was contained to one suite," Lamerz told BradfordToday. "There's not too much smoke damage."
He noted tenants were able to return to their units by 10:30 p.m. last night.
Lamerz said the unit had a working smoke detector and the building's detection system was audible when firefighters arrived.
The investigation is continuing.
