Police and fire crews spent Sunday on the scene of a fatal apartment fire in Dartmouth, more than 36 hours after the original call came in.
As the investigation continues into the cause, many displaced residents are left trying to pick up the pieces.
At 3:35 a.m. Saturday, officers responded to a fire at an apartment building at 81 Primose St. in Dartmouth.
Deputy Fire Chief Roy Hollett confirmed that the body of a woman was pulled from the building on Primrose St. early Saturday morning, with another person sent to hospital in serious condition.
The name, and age of the deceased has not been released at this time.
"Every fire, every incident is a crime scene until deemed otherwise," says Hollett.
Building resident Charlotte MacFarlane was alerted to the danger by one of her cats.
"You don't know how fast this fire went. It started before 4:00 a.m., and by 5:00 a.m. it took three apartments," says MacFarlane.
From outside the building, MacFarlane witnessed others closer to the fire in desperate need of rescue.
"She was out on her balcony stamping out the sparks to try to keep it from spreading to hers until she could get evacuated," says Charlotte MacFarlane.
"When initial crews arrived we actually rescued 15-20 people by using our aerial trucks, so crews did an amazing job taking people as the building was on fire," says Hollett.
Fire crews still haven't been able to explore what lies beneath the rubble.
"I know there are reports of people still unaccounted for. The numbers of who were there all over the place. In an apartment building, one issue we have is it's not clear as to who was in there," says Hollett.
While the fire was mostly contained to a few apartments, other units have been suffered smoke and water damage and the power has been disconnected to the entire 80-unit complex, so all tenants may be displaced for period of time.
The Red Cross says as many as 150 tenants were displaced. They have set up temporary shelter at the North Dartmouth Community Centre.
"We are assessing our shelter operation day-by-day, just to make sure we fill the need that's there. As of right now the shelter will remain open tonight for people affected by the fire to stay, they just need to make sure they're registered with us," says Nicholas Williams, disaster management coordinator for the Red Cross.
The Red Cross is also organizing firefighters to escort residents back into the building to get medicine and other essential items.
The Disaster Animal Response Team is also on site at the North End Community Centre, offering emergency shelter for pets.
As they were responding to the fire on Primrose St., officers received a call to a second building fire in the neighbourhood of North End Dartmouth.
At 5:15 a.m., officers responded to Robert Burns Dr. and Brule St. for a report of another building on fire. Officers remain on scene assisting and both Robert Burns Dr. and Brule St. are closed to all traffic.
The scene of that fire has now been cleared. Fire officials say they do not believe it was suspicious, but their work continues to determine the cause of the Primrose St. fire.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Marie Adsett.
