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Northern Ontario

Elliot Lake fire crews continue to battle massive apartment fire

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Donations pour in for Elliot Lake fire victims WATCH: Hockey fans asked to bring donations for apartment fire victims in Elliot Lake.

Not much is known yet about what could have started a large apartment building fire in the City of Elliot Lake on Thursday afternoon.

Elliot Lake fire Elliot Lake fire crews continuing to battle a massive fire at 22 Hirshhorn Avenue at this hour. The apartment building appears to be a loss. (viewer Matthew Lilley)

The city put out a post on its Facebook page around 3 p.m. asking people to stay away from 22 Hirshhorn Avenue due to a fire in progress.

Witness video provided to CTV News five hours later showed the Elliot Lake Fire Department continuing to fight the blaze defensively.

1000016156.jpg Fire at Elliot Lake apartment building taken around 11:45 p.m. December 12, 2024 (Denise Desayeux)

One resident, Matthew Lilley, guessed at the building having roughly 12 units and said that the building was fully engulfed.

Patricia McEwen, a former tenant of the building, told CTV News there are 20 units in the building.

1000016154.jpg Fire at Elliot Lake apartment building taken around 11:45 p.m. December 12, 2024 (Denise Desayeux)

The fire reportedly started in one unit and there is no word yet on if anyone was injured.

1000016150 (wings).jpeg Fire at Elliot Lake apartment building taken around 11:45 p.m. December 12, 2024 (Denise Desayeux)
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This all happening under a snow squall warning with temperatures near -10 C.

CTV News has reached out to the Elliot Lake Fire Department as well as Fire Chief John Thomas and is awaiting a reply.

As of noon, the building was still smouldering and fire crews continued to pour water on the rubble.

An Elliot Lake apartment building smoulders after An Elliot Lake apartment building smoulders the day after a fire broke out. December 13, 2024 (Angela Gemmill/CTV Northern Ontario)

We’ll continue to update this story as it develops.