One man was rushed to hospital with severe burns as a result of a fire at 717 Pandora Ave., but fast action by firefighters and the internal sprinkler system kept the blaze from causing extensive damage to the three-storey residential building.
Fire crews from the Bay Street Fire Station responded to reports of smoke emanating from the building between Douglas and Blanshard streets in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Crews arrived at 2:36 a.m. and found smoke and a confined fire that had been controlled by the building’s sprinklers. Crews had to force the door to the suite where the fire originated and located the one occupant of the suite. They carried him out of the building, where he was given first aid treatment then transported to hospital, but no reports as to his condition are available at this time.
Crews remained on scene to help disperse water used to fight the fire. An Emergency Social Services team arrived to assist people displaced by the fire, but most residents of the roughly two dozen suites were able to return, as the water damage was limited to the hallway areas outside their apartments.
Damage to the building was estimated at $15,000, but Fire Department officials estimated that their actions saved an estimated $1 million in potential damage. The one suite experienced significant fire damage while several others, and the Beacon Community Thrift Store located at ground level, sustained water damage.