A man has died following a fire at a Ross Street apartment building in Barrie early this morning.
“An elderly male was transported from the scene to local hospital and has been pronounced deceased,” Peter Leon, communications co-ordinator with Barrie police, said Sunday morning.
The man’s name and age have not been released by city police.
The victim was taken to Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) with life-threatening injuries after Barrie firefighters were called to the Ross Street blaze at 2:45 a.m., Nov. 12, near Wellington Street West.
Barrie Fire Chief Cory Mainprize said fire crews arrived, determined there was a fire on the fifth floor, then entered the building to suppress the blaze and searched the unit.
“The victim was located very quickly once they arrived,” he said. “They removed him via the external staircase, transferred care to (Simcoe County paramedics).”
The Office of the Fire Marshal and Barrie Fire and Emergency Service are investigating the cause of the fire.
Mainprize said there was a significant fire in the fifth-floor apartment.
“The unit is heavily destroyed. It’s a non-combustible building, so it’s mostly the contents of the room,” he said. “Most of the contents of the room will be non-salvageable. They’re either burnt or have significant smoke damage.”
