Witness rescues woman from fatal house fire in Kanata

One person is dead after an early morning fire at a Kanata home, while the heroic actions of a passerby rescued a woman from the burning structure.

The Ottawa Police Arson Unit and the Office of the Fire Marshal are investigating the fire at a one-storey bungalow in the 200 block of Castlefrank Road, just off Glamorgan Drive, at approximately 5:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Travis Brown was driving to the gym from his Stittsville home early Tuesday morning when he saw smoke coming from the home and called 911.

"I banged on the door and tried to ring the door bell. I could hear the fire alarm going off," Brown tells CTV News Ottawa.

As he was on the phone with a 911 operator to report the fire, he saw an elderly woman in a bedroom.

"I yelled at her to say, 'your house is on fire," Brown said.

He removed the window and urged her to come to the window, but she said she had fallen and couldn't get up. The 29-year-old climbed into the home to rescue the woman.

"I hopped in and felt around for her, listened for her, grabbed her and pulled her to the window, pulled myself out and then lifted her out," Brown said, adding a bystander rushed over to help.

Ottawa Paramedics say a woman in her 90s was transported to hospital in stable condition with smoke inhalation.

Ottawa fire says firefighters conducting a search of the home after the fire had been brought under control located an individual inside the home. That person was pronounced dead at the scene.

The burned interior of a bungalow can be seen through the window of a home on Castlefrank Road in Kanata where one woman was heroically rescued, but sadly a person was found deceased on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (Leah Larocque/CTV News Ottawa)

No other information has been released about the victim.

Ottawa fire says Brown reported "big flames and smoke from the house" during the 911 call.

A neighbour reported hearing a "weird noise" overnight.

"My doorbell camera showed a bright light, but it was black and white," Christine Hill told CTV News Ottawa.

"When I went out, all I saw was flames and smoke. I thought it was a tree on fire because it was so high."

Neighbours say the residents living in the home were kind.

"He was always out helping people with their driveways, snowplowed for the lady across the driveway all the time, always helping," Kenneth Logan said.

Ottawa's fire chief expressed condolences to the family of the victim.

"The Ottawa Fire Services extends its sincere condolences to the family and friends of the occupant who succumbed to their injuries at this morning's fire on Castlefrank Road," Chief Paul Hutt said on Twitter. "Our sympathies are with them as they navigate this profound loss."

Brown says he did everything he could to help during the fire.

"Obviously happy to help," Brown said, adding he was assessed by paramedics at the scene. "You just wish you could have done more."

The Ottawa Police Arson Unit and the Office of the Fire Marshal are investigating a fatal fire on Castlefrank Road in Kanata.