11 people hospitalized, 2 in ICU after Hamilton YMCA fire

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Eleven people were hospitalized, including two sent to intensive care units, after a fire that caused about $1 million in damage at a downtown Hamilton YMCA.

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Hamilton Fire Chief Dave Cunliffe said in a news release that crews were dispatched at about 12:20 p.m. to 79 James St. S. and found smoke on the second floor of the building when they arrived, upgrading the incident to a multiple-alarm blaze.

Firefighters found the blaze on the third floor of the transitional housing facility, Cunliffe said, with heavy smoke on the fourth and fifth floors, too.

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“Firefighters inside the building were reporting that they had numerous people inside that needed to be rescued,” Cunliffe said, “as well, the additional crews arriving advised that they had multiple residents hanging out of windows on multiple floors also needing to be rescued.”

Cunliffe said 24 people were rescued during the operation, 19 of whom were assisted during interior search-and-rescue efforts by firefighters. Five other people were rescued from windows with the help of three aerial ladders.

CBC Hamilton reported that the fire was contained at about 1:30 p.m.

Hamilton Police public information officer Krista-Lee Ernst said in an update on X that the two people admitted to ICU were in critical condition.

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Cunliffe said the fire, which affected the YMCA’s transitional housing units for men, was contained on the third floor, but smoke had “migrated” to the rest of the building with “significant” damage on the third, fourth and fifth levels.

“Given the size and scope of the fire involving vulnerable residents and the number of rescues and people transported to the hospital, the Office of the Fire Marshall has been notified and will be responding with two investigators in the morning,” Cunliffe said.

The building, which has been temporarily closed while police and the fire marshal investigate, provides up to 210 men at risk with “clean, safe and affordable transitional housing,” its website says.

Cunliffe said fire department and emergency management staff were working with the YMCA on a temporary residency plan for the 173 displaced tenants with both gyms in the building being used as emergency shelter.

He said the Red Cross was also providing sleeping cots and hygiene kits for residents.

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