Tenant burned in overnight balcony fire

Ottawa firefighters respond to a balcony fire on McArthur Avenue. Feb. 14, 2025. (Jean Lalonde/Ottawa Fire Services)

Ottawa Fire Services says the tenant of a high-rise apartment on McArthur Avenue was injured after a balcony fire broke out overnight.

Firefighters were called to the building at the corner of McArthur Avenue and the Vanier Parkway at around 1:22 a.m. Friday on reports of fire alarms in the building and smoke on the sixth floor.

The fire was on a sixth-floor balcony and was extinguished before it could spread to the apartment. It was declared under control at 1:43 a.m.

No one was found in the apartment or in the hallways. Firefighters found the tenant on the ground floor with burns to his hands, and suffering from smoke inhalation.

Ottawa paramedics said he was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.