Fire burns through Welland apartment building

(Update)

A dozen residents of a Welland apartment building are lucky to be alive after an early morning fire ripped through their building causing it to collapse. They were all evacuated but one person was sent to hospital with smoke inhalation.

The fire started around 2 this morning. But when we left Welland about 12 hours later smoke was still billowing from the building as firefighters worked to put out hot spots.

The fire chief says the damage is estimated at $500,000. The Ontario Fire Marshal has been notified of the fire but they won’t know if an investigator will be sent out to assist them in determining the cause until the fire has been completely put out.