A fire in Woodstock has left at least 23 people homeless after flames tore through their apartment building Sunday morning.
The blaze began in a basement unit of the apartment, and officials are calling it accidental for the time being.
Woodstock Fire Chief Ricky Nicholson says the fire was a difficult one to handle due to the smoke and little natural light.
“My main object was to knock on doors and evacuate the building. We started doing that, but the smoke was so thick and dark that it over took us and we have to evacuate the building, until our crews arrived. They made a great, awesome initial attack. That's why the building is still standing,” says Nicholson.
Nicholson says they had to use forceful entry on four doors to help people get out of the building.
One man was sent to hospital for smoke inhalation but nobody else was injured.
Tenants were allowed to gather their belongings on Monday, not knowing when or if they can return to the building.
“It’s a lot of fire damage on the ground floor, but the smoke went up through the building, travelled up throughout so there is significant damage to the building. I'm not sure when the tenants will be allowed back in at this time,” says Nicholson.
The Red Cross has provided emergency lodging to at least 15 of the tenants.
The investigation into the fire is still ongoing.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown
