Two people sent to hospital, four buildings damaged after ‘significant’ east Hamilton blaze

Two people were sent to hospital and as many as four buildings sustained significant damage after a fire in east Hamilton clouded nearby streets in plumes of thick black smoke Tuesday.

More than 50 firefighters responded to a multi-alarm structure fire at 221 Kenilworth Ave. N., a mixed-used commercial and residential building just off Hope Avenue, at around 3:20 p.m.

Chief Dave Cunliffe of the fire department said the blaze appears to have originated on the ground level before it quickly picked up steam and extended through the roof.

Crews attempted to do an interior attack and were met with heavy smoke and high heat," Cunliffe told reporters outside the scene. As conditions started to worsen, crews were pulled out."

Cunliffe said crews began to douse the persistent blaze aerially after a sweep of the surrounding buildings.

Two people were rescued and taken to hospital with smoke inhalation, he added. There were no injuries to firefighters.

Four buildings - including 221 Kenilworth - have sustained significant damage. Cunliffe said at least two experienced some sort of structural, roof and floor collapses.

It's unclear how many tenants were housed in the two-storey structures.

The cause of the blaze and estimated damage remains under investigation.

This fire is significant," Cunliffe said. Until we get it knocked down, I won't be able to give specifics."

The blaze drew a crowd of more than 100 onlookers.

Witnesses told The Spectator a hectic scene unfolded as firefighters arrived and attempted to clear out nearby buildings.

Behshta Ali was just driving down Kenilworth with her partner when they saw a flurry of people pour out of the building and onto the sidewalk.

It started as a little smoke, but then it kind of exploded really, really quickly," she said.

Ali said one woman living on the second floor of 221 Kenilworth, oblivious to the intensifying fire below her, opened her window in a haste and asked people on the street what was going on.

She was in a towel, just out of the shower," Ali said.

The firefighters broke her window and brought her down on a ladder," said Sean Jessot, who lives across the street from 221 Kenilworth. She was hanging out the window."

Jessot was in his living room when he started to see thin, white smoke creep out beneath a door on the building's first floor.

In seconds, he said, the smoke turned black, billowing through the roof and extending to neighbouring properties.

It started going from rooftop to rooftop," Jessot said. It was all of a sudden."

Cunliffe attributed the fire's quick and rampant spread to the makeup of 221 Kenilworth.

It's an old-style building with balloon frame construction, he said, which means the joist and floorboards run parallel and up and down, from the main floor to the roof.

It's a great way for a fire to get trapped in between within the floors and walls."

As of 5:30 p.m., aerial crews continued to douse the fire, which has left a lingering brown haze overtop a large portion of the east end.

Hamilton police had cordoned off a roughly three block stretch on Kenilworth between Britannia and Newlands Avenue.

Cunliffe said crews are expected to remain on scene for quite some time."

Sebastian Bron is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbron@thespec.com