The Hamilton Fire Department said 23 homes under construction were destroyed in a four-alarm fire in the East Mountain Monday afternoon.
The fire started shortly before 4 p.m. and forced police to close Upper Red Hill Valley Parkway between Rymal Road and Highland Road West, where the Central Park building was located.
Be the first to see the HFD crews at Rymal & Red Hill. Roads will remain closed. #StrongForYou #HamOnt pic.twitter.com/4ddLzj2ytK
— Hamilton Fire Department (@HamiltonFireDep) July 11, 2022
Story continues below the ad
“Strong winds from the south were fanning the flames … shooting 30 to 40 feet into the area and moving quickly north of the construction site toward rows of occupied homes that were across the street,” Chief Dave Cunliffe told Global News in an email .
Trending stories
-
Rogers outage: What we know so far about refunds for Friday’s service outage
-
2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at 4 California 7-Eleven stores: local police
Cunliffe said the fire was so hot that the siding on some of the new homes melted and windows broke from the same heat.
Read more: $1 million in damage after Sunday morning fire in Hamilton’s Winona Park area
“At the height of the fire, radiant heat ignited the balconies in the backyards of the exposed houses to the north and in the rear of the adjacent row of houses immediately behind them,” Cunliffe said.
Nearly 70 firefighters battled the blaze for about 45 minutes, directing the flames to balconies to prevent them from spreading to nearby homes.
HFD crews working in the Rymal and Red Hill area. The roads are closed. Crews will be working on stage for a while #StrongForYou #HamOnt pic.twitter.com/T13GI1zdRQ
— Hamilton Fire Department (@HamiltonFireDep) July 11, 2022
Story continues below the ad
In total, the site sustained approximately $10 million in damage related to 23 destroyed units, heat damage to 12 occupied homes, and damage to several parked cars and construction equipment on nearby streets.
No injuries were reported.
Residents of a number of homes in occupied areas in the area were allowed to return on Monday night.
The Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office has been notified and is expected to investigate the cause with the assistance of Hamilton Police.
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Add Comment