Moncton firefighters rescued two people from a downtown house fire Wednesday morning, with two firefighters suffering injuries in the process.
Moncton Fire Deputy Chief Keith Guptill said the department responded to a call about flames on Veniot Street, near John Street, just after 6 a.m.
Responding firefighters found the porches on the front of the home on fire and several people already out of the 2.5-storey building. Guptill said they were told two people remained inside.
“One individual ended up climbing out on a window on the second storey,” he said.
“So we were able to bring her and then we had to send a crew into the third level to actually extricate the patient from there and bring them down the ladder unresponsive.”
Guptill said both people were transported to hospital.
He said one firefighter injured his elbow falling from a ladder while carrying a person down from the house, and another got tangled up and fell inside the structure. Both were treated for their injuries.
A cat was also rescued from the home.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by members of the fire department. That work includes checking footage from any nearby cameras for clues to how it may have started and at what time.
“They’ll also interview any of the neighbors and some of the folks that were in the home to just kind of start to piece that together,” Guptill said.
“But then the main forensics is to actually do some digging and find out where the base of the fire was.”
