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Elderly man in critical condition after apartment blaze – Metro US

Elderly man in critical condition after apartment blaze

A 73-year-old man is in critical condition after a two-alarm blaze at an apartment complex at 278 Montreal Rd. Wednesday.

The fire was promptly extinguished by the 35 firefighters and 13 vehicles responding to the call at 10:53 a.m.

The man was found unconscious in an apartment by firefighters. Paramedics treated him for third-degree burns to his chest, neck, face and arms, in addition to smoke inhalation. Paramedics also treated a male in his late teens or early 20s for smoke inhalation.

When firefighters arrived on the scene, the kitchen was engulfed in flames. The fire was contained to the apartment, with some minor smoke damage elsewhere in the building.

According to fire platoon leader Dennis Gobey, the fire doesn’t seem to be suspicious, and “could be a malfunction of the stove or maybe it was left unattended.”

Melissa Marshall, 24, a tenant in the apartment above the fire, said that her son “saw smoke coming out of the radiators.” After sending a family member to check the hallway, Marshall escaped from the blaze with her visiting family, including a three-month-old baby, her six-year-old son and her Rottweiler, who recently had a litter of nine.

“The fire alarm didn’t even go off for a while,” said Marshall. “We didn’t hear one until our own alarm went off.”

Neighbours have identified the man in critical condition as Peter Belanger.