Firefighters battling multiple-alarm blaze at Westdale highrise

The Office of the Fire Marshal has been notified about a suspicious fire Sunday afternoon at an apartment building in Westdale.

Several Hamilton fire crews responded to the highrise at 44 Glen Rd., near Main and Macklin streets, around 2:45 p.m. for reports of a multiple-alarm structure fire.

At the scene, smoke could be seen billowing out of a unit on the 11th floor. Its balcony was covered in soot and its windows were shattered.

The fire department said in a tweet the blaze was knocked down upon entry. It caused extensive damage to the affected unit and is considered suspicious.

Roughly three dozen tenants poured out of the 14-storey building and onto Macklin amid the din of ringing fire alarms.

Wael Abdelkader said he phoned 911 after spotting smoke shoot under a neighbour's door that looked charred.

All the neighbours on the floor, we started running out together," he said, standing next to his family. My wife is pregnant. She was running so fast she almost slipped. We're worried about our (unit) - it's on the same floor."

Down on the fifth floor, as fire alarms rang out, a curious Tryistan Callaghan stepped out onto his balcony.

A rubbery, smoky smell," he said. I knew there was a fire and got out and knocked on my neighbour's door on the way to tell him. I have my two cats in there but didn't have enough time to get them from under the couch."

Firefighters remained on scene as of 5 p.m.

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com