A man is fighting for his life in hospital after a house fire on the Hamilton mountain

One man has been taken to hospital without vital signs, after a small basement house fire on the Hamilton mountain. The man was revived but remains in the hospital fighting for his life.

It happened around 12:45 p.m. on East 44th Street. The fire chief says when first responders arrived, they found a man sitting on the driveway of the home when suddenly he experienced a medical emergency and lost vitals.

“From the information that we’ve gathered is, prior to calling 911 it appears as though the occupant was trying to fight the fire so he may have taken in some smoke while he was doing that. Our message to our residents, if there’s a fire in your house, a smoke detector is going off, get out of the house and call 911. Please, don’t stay in the house and try to fight the fire.”

Investigators from the Ontario Fire Marshall’s office have been called in to investigate given the medical emergency. Hamilton fire says the incident does not appear to be suspicious at this time but the cause of the blaze is still unknown.