Man dead after apartment fire in downtown Dartmouth

Halifax Regional Police say one person is dead after a fire in downtown Dartmouth early Thursday morning.

Firefighters were called to the two-storey building at 86 Portland St., which has businesses on the ground floor and apartments upstairs, just after 4 a.m. When they went into the building, they reported heavy smoke and heat on the second floor.

“We quickly attacked the fire on the second level, and one unconscious person was found and removed from the building by firefighters,” district chief Stephen Turner said. “They provided initial medical treatment and transferred them to the care of paramedics.”

The man was taken to hospital but could not be resuscitated.

Turner said  the fire was contained to one unit in the building, which was where the victim was found.  

He said other occupants of the building were already outside when firefighters arrived. He believes there were four apartments upstairs.

There was probably some smoke and water damage to the downstairs businesses, Turner said, but he wasn’t sure of the extent.

Most firefighters had left the scene by 6 a.m., when investigators arrived.

There was little evidence of fire from the street outside the grey building although the front windows of the upstairs apartments were open on the chilly morning. In a narrow alley behind the building, the area around a window was partly blackened and the siding melted.

Police and fire investigators had left the scene by late morning.

Police spokesman Const. John MacLeod said it’s still early in the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.