Residents were woken up by a loud crashing noise after three balconies collapsed in a Glebe neighbourhood.
It happened around 7:15 a.m. Tuesday.
"We heard a huge crash," said neighbour Chris Heilig. "A car smashing into your house, kind of sound."
Heilig has called Strathacona Avenue home for 18 years. His house is next to the condo building located at 235 Patterson Avenue, near Bank Street.
"My wife looked out the window and sat the balconies next door had collapsed," said Heilig.
"It's the last thing you would expect to happen."
"I said what on earth could that be," said neighbour Jean Laurencine.
"I couldn't believe it, balconies collapsing, I just couldn't believe it."
Fire officials say they responded ready for a search and rescue had someone been caught in the debris, but there were no injuries.
"The top one had let go and it had a pancake affect," said Captain Steve Styles of the Ottawa Fire Department.
"Obviously if people were on their decks, this would have been really bad."
The city confirmed to CTV News an investigation into the incident has been opened.
"Building code services was notified earlier this morning of a balcony collapse at 615 Bank Street/234 Patterson Avenue," Chief Building Official Frank Bidin said in a statement to CTV News. "Building inspection staff have attended the site and directed the property owner to take immediate measures to prevent access to the balconies for the affected units.
"The owner will remove the debris as soon as possible and access to this area has been restricted for safety. There were no injuries and an investigation is ongoing. Inspection staff last attended the site when the building was constructed in 2009."
It's still early in the investigation and it's unclear if the collapse was related to the winter weather or is the result of a structural issue.
The building is 10 years old and was built by Domicile Ltd.
