Apartment fire deliberately set, Saskatoon Fire Department says

A Tuesday morning apartment fire was deliberately set, according to Saskatoon Fire Department (SFD).

At 6:02 a.m. the department received a report of a fire on the first floor of an apartment building at 1020 Matheson Drive, according to a news release.

Upon arriving, fire crews observed smoke coming from the main door of the apartment building and also a lower-level suite window. Occupants of the building were evacuating.

Firefighters confirmed a small fire in the bedroom of the first-floor suite and located the main source of the fire in a closet and extinguished the flames.

Meanwhile, another crew helped occupants who were not able to initially self-evacuate.

One occupant from the burned suite was assessed and treated by the ambulance service.

The Saskatoon Police Service was also on scene with a van to keep occupants of the apartment building warm.

The fire was contained to one suite and was declared under control at 6:14 a.m.

During the salvage and overhaul stage, crews ventilated the building of residual smoke and carbon monoxide. The building was fully vented and occupants were let back into their suites at 6:38 a.m.

SFD’s Fire Investigator deemed the cause of the fire as incendiary and noted the smoke alarms in the burned suite had been tampered with. Fire damage is estimated at $20,000.

SFD says residents should test their smoke alarms monthly. Tampering or removing life safety devices such as smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms is a criminal offence and can be subject to a fine up to $25,000.