The owner of a Hodder Avenue apartment building says the tenant who died in a Saturday night fire was an excellent man.
Firefighters with the Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue responded to a call that came in after 8 p.m. Saturday. Firefighters forced their way into the apartment and pulled a man out from the building.
Firefighters failed to resusitate the man. Police will release the victim’s identity after next of kin has been notified.
Michael Grona, the owner of the apartment building, said he last chatted with the man only a few hours before the fire began. Grona lives only a few feet away from the victim, and said they didn’t talk about anything in particular and just exchanged a quick hello.
The victim has resided in the same apartment for about five years.
“Unbelievable,” Grona said Sunday. “He was an excellent man. He always cut the grass. He was unbelievable.”
The building owner added that the other apartments are empty because of the fire, and tenants have temporary lodgings.
Firefighters quickly doused the blaze and prevented it from spreading to the other five units, but despite their efforts the building still sustained smoke damage throughout.
The cause of the fire is still unknown, and is under investigation.
Director of Fire Prevention Brian Berringer said he believed the man who died was in his 40s or 50s.
“(Firefighters) had an inkling when they were responding that somebody may have been in the building,” Berringer said.
“Sadly, they rescued a man from the building but he subsequently succumbed to his injuries. Now that it is a fatality, you can see that the scene is under guard and we’re waiting for the arrival of the Ontario Fire Marshal."
He added that most of the damage was to the one room and the rest of the building had only smoke damage.
Berringer wanted to remind everyone to make sure their smoke detectors were working and that they should be checked regularly to ensure that they are in working order.
