A 19-month-old girl remains in hospital in critical condition after fire swept through a low-rise apartment complex on Saturday night.
As smoke and flames filled the building at 57 Bridgeport Rd. E., a family dropped their two young children from a fourth-floor window in an effort to save them.
Firefighters rescued the two parents using ground ladders once they were at the scene. All four were taken to hospital, but the two adults and a four-year-old girl had been released by Sunday evening.
The toddler was transferred to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto with critical injuries that officials believe resulted from the four-storey fall. One firefighter was taken to hospital as well with a severe cut to his arm. He has since been released.
The fire is believed to have started in a third-floor apartment of the four-storey building, said deputy fire chief Richard Hepditch.
Fire services received the call for the fire at 8:03 p.m. on Saturday.
The fire spread to the fourth floor through the ceiling of the third-floor unit, destroying sections of the building and roof. Firefighters attempted to enter the building but were driven back by heavy flames and heat.
"We saw smoke outside," said Reanjidh Pandallea, a resident of an adjacent wing of the building.
Pandallea said he and his family quickly evacuated the building but a colleague who lived in the affected area was trapped.
"His family was not able to come out from the building ... They could not come out due to the smoke," Pandallea said.
"(My colleague) broke the window ... with the help of a couple of friends he dropped his kids from there," Pandallea explained.
Pandallea said once the children were out, fire crews arrived to evacuate the man and his wife.
In the unit where the fire is believed to have begun, an adult male was home and was able to evacuate.
All 47 units of the building, housing 83 people, were evacuated and the Canadian Red Cross was called to help residents find temporary accommodations. Thirty-one residents utilized support from the Red Cross to find hotel accommodations Saturday night.
Until the building is deemed safe, and power can be restored, tenants will not be able to return to the building. Residents of the units damaged by fire, smoke and water will likely be displaced for much longer.
Ashrf Embark lived in a basement unit with his wife and four-month-old son.
Returning to the scene on Sunday morning, he said most of their belongings have been destroyed.
"Everything is gone," he said standing with a box of the few belongings that were salvaged.
While his son was exposed to the cold temperatures Saturday evening, Embark said his family was otherwise unharmed in the incident.
Waterloo Fire Rescue and the Office of the Fire Marshal are continuing the investigation. A damage estimate has not been determined.
Hepditch said the Electrical Safety Authority and an electrical contractor have been called as well.
Copyright 2013 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd.All Rights Reserved
