Mattress fire damages Cornwall hotel; guests displaced

A mattess fire Thursday, April 21, 2016 at this hotel in Vincent Massey Drive caused extensive smoke damage to roughly a dozen units. Eight people, and possibly more, are displaced by the fire. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)

CORNWALL – At least eight people are displaced after a Cornwall hotel fire Thursday afternoon.

City firefighters, paramedics and police were called to the Cornwall Lodge & Inn at 1750 Vincent Massey Drive just after 1:30 p.m.

“We were dispatched to a mattress on fire and, as we were pulling up to the scene, we could see that it was much more than a mattress that was involved,” Platoon Chief Pierre Baril told Cornwall Newswatch.

A Cornwall firefighter sprays water on a section of the hotel where a mattress fire caused damage Thursday, April 21, 2016. A number of hotel guests have been displaced. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)
A Cornwall firefighter sprays water on a section of the hotel where a mattress fire caused damage Thursday, April 21, 2016. A number of hotel guests have been displaced. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)

The flames had spread in to the main foyer of the hotel, as well as the rear of the building and the second floor, Baril said.

“There are approximately 12 units that have potential damage due to heavy smoke,” Baril said. He indicated that around eight people were in the affected units – all had got out before their arrival.

“There is heavy extensive damage throughout that end of the building,” the platoon chief said. “The power has been turned off to the entire building as a precaution therefore there may be many more people displaced as a result.”

One elderly woman was being given oxygen on the scene by a Cornwall/SDG paramedic. Baril said some people in a corner unit, who were not involved directly in the fire, breathed in some smoke as they escaped their hotel room. They were also treated by paramedics as well.

A fire prevention officer was on scene looking into the cause and origin of the blaze.

Cornwall Fire Department Platoon Chief Pierre Baril (red helmet) surveys the damage from a mattress fire Thursday, April 21, 2016 at the Cornwall Lodge & Inn on Vincent Massey Drive in Cornwall, Ont. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)
Cornwall Fire Department Platoon Chief Pierre Baril (red helmet) surveys the damage from a mattress fire Thursday, April 21, 2016 at the Cornwall Lodge & Inn on Vincent Massey Drive in Cornwall, Ont. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)