Highrise residents 'very stressed' after 2nd fire in 2 days

Firefighters were back at a Donald Street highrise Friday night the same building where eight people were taken to the hospital earlier this week following a suspicious fire.

Ottawa Fire Services (OFS) saidthey received several 911 calls about the latest fire,with flames visible from the sixth-floor bedroom firevisible once crewsarrived on the street.

The fire was brought under control by around 11:45 p.m., OFS said in a media release.

"It wasinside of a particular unit," Deputy Chief Nathan Adams told CBC News on Saturday morning, adding that investigators had already ruled out arson.

The unit belongs to Fatima Othman, who said she lives there with six other people.

Othman said she'd beentrying to fall asleep when, after about 10 minutes, she felt her legs getting hotter.

"When I looked [around], I saw the fire was everywhere in the bedroom," she toldRadio-Canada.

For now sheand her family are living at a hotel.

"We have nothing. All our money, the bank cards, the [permanent residence card], health cards, everything [was in our] unit. So we don't have anything with us."

Safety taken seriously, says property manager

Adams said the seven people inOthman's unit were theonly ones displaced by Friday night's fire. He said OFSimplemented a fire watch overnight, which involves a crew remaining on sceneout of abundance of caution.

"Some residents were certainly concerned about their safety, having had subsequent fires in two consecutive days," he said.

Paramedics said one patient was treated and released with minor injuries.

A spokesperson for Q Residential, whichmanages the property, said they were working with independent technicians"to examine the cause of last night's fire."

"We take resident safety very seriously," the spokesperson told CBC News by email.

Emergency crews werecalled to the same building onThursday morning for a two-alarm fire that was deemed suspicious bymid-afternoon.

Ottawa's fire chief said around 200 people were affected by Thursday's blaze. Roughly 56 residents are still displaced.

Of the eight people taken to the hospital,two children and a womanremain in critical condition.

Mohammed Rahman said people who live at the highrise are shaken by two fires in two days.

"We are very stressed," said Rahman. "Mentally, we are sick right now ...we don't know what will happen[the]next time."

Red Cross, Salvation Army helping

Beacon Hill-CyrvilleCoun. Tim Tierney, who represents the area, said he's been workingthe Red Cross and Salvation Army to help people who've beendisplaced.

Tierney said they've found temporary housing, andis hopeful residents will be able to get back home soon.

"My understanding is the criminal component [of the police investigation] is now wrapping up, and they'll be turning the property back to the property owner to do the renovations, cleanup and all things associated with the smoke damage," Tierney said.

"They're being let in one-by-one based on what the property managerdeems is acceptable. They want tomake sure it's [safe] for the people to come back in."