firefighters snuff out small apartment fire

A blaze at a Valleyview Apartment building had residents out in the cold Monday night.

Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue responded to a small kitchen fire at the apartment building on Valley Street sometime before midnight. Firefighters brought the fire under control but residents of the building still had to evacuate outside.

Randy Ricci, who lives in the building, said when the fire alarms went off he left his apartment to find black smoke in the hallways.
“Fire trucks were called and people were coming outside,” Ricci said. “The fire was inside but the people in that apartment weren’t around. I just tried to get everyone out of the building. There was thick black smoke. As far as I know there was no one taken to the hospital.”

North Central District Chief Dan Jackson said the fire was small and confined in the kitchen area of the basement apartment. He said the building didn’t receive much damage.

“We extinguished the cabinets then we ventilated the building but there’s no other problem here,” Jackson said. “The apartment was vacated prior to our arrival. It was just something on the stove left unattended.”

He added that the conditions in the apartment made the fire somewhat suspicious but wouldn’t say any more about it until they finished their investigation.