Tenant suffered life-threatening burns in Hess Street apartment fire

A tenant of a downtown Hamilton apartment is in “grave to critical” condition in hospital after fire ripped through the residence early Sunday. At approximately 1:59 a.m. this morning, the Hamilton Fire Department responded to an alarm at 95 Hess Street South, between Jackson Street west and Hunter Street. First arriving crews reported a smell of smoke in the main floor lobby of the 18 storey apartment and then proceeded to the seventh floor where smoke could be seen coming from a door of an apartment unit. Firefighters made entry reporting and reported heavy smoke and high heat in the fire unit. The alarms was upgraded to a multiple alarm, bringing resources from across the City to the scene. Firefighters performing search and rescue operations quickly located a person inside the unit, who was then removed and transported to the lobby while firefighters and paramedics performed life saving measures. The person had sustained severe burns and was transported to hospital by Hamilton Paramedics. Subsequently the person was transported to Sunnybrook Hospital. Firefighters quickly located and extinguished the fire. The apartment suffered significant damage. Several floors of tenants had to be evacuated while firefighters cleared smoke that had migrated from the  fire apartment to additional floors. The Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal was notified. At this time the suspected cause and estimate of damages is not available.