Devastating Elliot Lake apartment fire displaces 32 tenants days before Christmas

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Thirty-two tenants are displaced and two firefighters injured after a fire ripped through an apartment complex on Hirshhorn Avenue in Elliot Lake on Thursday.

The structure was still smoldering 24 hours after flames first broke out, with several firefighters still on scene putting out hotspots at what was left of the three-story building.

“We're going to be here for quite a while,” said Fire Chief John Thomas, the manager of emergency services, on Friday.

“We have Ontario Hydro on scene here now with us and we got to make a couple of things safe for them to perform some of their duties. We have an excavator on site. I am hoping we can start getting some of the [fire] crews back, hopefully, by sometime this evening."

According to Thomas everyone was able to get out of the building safely, however, one family pet perished.

A 911 call about flames being spotted from a third-floor window came in at 1:35 p.m. Thursday.

Thomas said the winter weather hampered efforts to extinguish the fire.

"We had very high winds last night (Thursday) here in Elliot Lake, where we had water lines freezing up on us," Thomas said.

"Crews are wet, crews are getting cold. We had a lot of ice covering everything. So, we had slippery spots that we had to worry about."

Two firefighters sustained minor injuries.

The 32 impacted tenants have lost everything they own, just days before Christmas.

A representative with the City of Elliot Lake said several agencies are helping them with practical needs like housing, clothing and food, while others are providing mental health support.

The fire is not deemed suspicious, however, the investigation into a cause won’t begin until all hotspots are out and investigators can comb through the debris

There is also not yet an estimate on damages, but the fire chief said there’s nothing left of the structure or the contents inside.