Two adults and two children died Thursday after a three-alarm fire overnight in Hamilton, officials said.
The Hamilton Fire Department says it received several calls shortly after 11 p.m. for a structure fire at 14 Derby St., near Upper Gage Avenue and Rymal Road.
First responders say a central unit in a row of townhouses was “fully involved” with heavy smoke and fire visible from both the front and back of the unit, Hamilton Fire Chief Dave Cunliffe said .
The two adults and two children died at the hospital after firefighters found them on the second floor of the burning home, Cunliffe said.
He said “crews quickly began an aggressive interior search and rescue [and] firefighting operations from the front and rear of the unit.”
Hamilton police say a total of six people were located with the unit and transported to hospital, where two adults and two children were pronounced dead. The remaining two people remain in stable condition, according to police. Firefighters told the first crew that there were people trapped on the second floor. Crews encountered fire, heavy smoke and intense heat as they pulled four people from the second floor.
Police say the Ontario Fire Marshal will conduct an investigation into the fire, adding that investigators are in the process of notifying the family and next of kin of this “tragic” event.
The cost of the fire damage, along with the cause, is not known at this time, Cunliffe says.
“They did everything they could in very difficult conditions,” he said. “It’s very difficult when we take people out and they unfortunately succumb to their injuries.”