Between 12 and 15 people, including at least two Carleton students, are homeless after a fire left a Centretown housing complex uninhabitable Jan. 12, according to Ottawa Fire Services.
The four-alarm fire broke out just after 10 p.m. after a candle was left unattended.
Described by Ottawa Fire Services public information officer Marc Messier in a tweet as “stubborn,” the fire spread to two other multi-unit houses after starting on the second floor of a building at 546 Gilmour Street, according to Ottawa Fire Services.
An 80-year-old man was hospitalized with difficulty breathing and a 22-year-old woman was hospitalized with minor smoke inhalation. Several tweets and photos also showed fire crews rescuing multiple cats from the building.
The damage is estimated at $1.5 million to the buildings, and $500,000 to the occupants’ belongings, according to Ottawa Fire Services.
