Man dies in Collingwood apartment fire

A Collingwood man is dead after an apartment fire early Tuesday morning.

The 71-year-old man now identified as Barry Wilson of Collingwood, lived in an apartment above a garage at 50 Moberly Street.

CTV News spoke with the victim's son, who said he put his father to bed Monday night, and in the morning, his sister and brother-in-law, who own the property, went to check on him. That's when they found the apartment filled with smoke.

"At this point, the investigation is ongoing. As you can see, the office of the Fire Marshal is on scene to assist with the investigation so we can determine the cause of the fire," said OPP Const. Martin Hachey.

Both the man's daughter and son-in-law were taken to hospital with minor injuries and have since been released.

"It certainly is a very close residential neighbourhood, so had there been a major blaze or the structure was fully engulfed, it would've made it very difficult to prevent it from spreading to another property. Especially with trees and a lot of foliage around. Certainly, in this case, it's good that it was contained within the structure and did not spread," said Hachey.

A fire services spokesman said the fire started in the apartment, and the damage was contained to a single unit.

The Ontario Fire Marshal has been summoned to investigate the cause of the fire.