House fire in Hamilton’s Stipley neighbourhood causes $800K in damages

Firefighters battled a blaze in a home in Hamilton’s Stipley neighbourhood Tuesday afternoon.

Emergency crews arrived around 4:15 p.m. to find heavy smoke coming from the third floor of the home located at 60 Prospect St. South.

Hamilton Fire Chief Dave Cunliffe says crews discovered the fire on the second floor ceiling.

“This is a bit of a stubborn fire,” Cunliffe says.

“We’ve got fire that’s gone up into the walls and into the roof space. Crews are actively inside right now pulling down ceilings and opening up the walls.”

As crews pushed onto the third floor to begin standard search and rescue operations, Cunliffe says conditions began to rapidly change as heavy smoke began venting through all openings on the third floor.

As a result, all crews were pulled out of the home and shifted to fighting the blaze from the exterior of the home as the alarm was quickly upgraded to second.

Cunliffe says no people were inside of the home during the fire. Crews were able to safely rescue the pets.

The blaze has caused more than $800,000 in damages, Cunliffe says.

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

READ MORE: One dead, three injured following house fire in Mississauga