A body was discovered Thursday by Ottawa firefighters who had spent the afternoon battling a house fire on Moodie Drive in Bells Corners.
Earlier there had been no reports of injuries, but rescue teams had to pull out of the building before completing a full search of the property. The body was discovered just after 3 p.m.
“After a search of the premises they located one victim and the fire is now being treated as a fatal fire investigation,” said Sgt. Dave Christie of the Ottawa police arson unit. “The Ottawa police will now be assisted by the fire department and the Office of the Fire Marshal, who will assist us in conducting the investigation.”
A body was found in the ruins of a rowhouse after a three-alarm fire on Moodie Drive.
The fire broke out just before 11 a.m. in the corner unit of a two-storey rowhouse complex at the corner of Moodie and Hadley Circle. The three-alarm blaze quickly engulfed both floors of the unit.
Heavy, grey smoke billowed out of the northwest end unit and blanketed the area.
Firefighters were ordered to evacuate the building and fight the fire from the outside. The department’s command unit was sent to the scene and a third alarm called.
A resident, who asked not to be named, said he was in the shower when the firefighters came knocking on all the doors on his floor.
“I answered the door half naked after the firefighters were banging on my door,” said the man.
He said the woman who lives in the end unit where the fire started was at work at the time.
An OC Transpo bus was on scene for evacuated residents looking to warm up in the frigid weather that dipped to -20 with the wind chill during the afternoon.
With files from Meghan Hurley and Blair Crawford
pmccooey@ottawacitizen.com
