Woman, 67, dead in Sandy Hill apartment fire

A 67-year-old woman is dead after a fire at a home east of downtown Ottawa on Monday night.

The fire happened on Wiggins Private, in the south end of Sandy Hill. Fire officials said the call came in from an alarm monitoring company just after 10:10 p.m.

Several 911 calls followed, with people reporting heavy black smoke and flames coming from a first floor apartment.

"The whole hallway was full of smoke and I crawled out the window and I heard smashing windows," said Tracy Cape. "I looked to my left and I saw flames. I called 911 right away."

Firefighters traced the fire to the bedroom and quickly put it out, officials said.

"An occupant was located and rescued out of the apartment by firefighters," Ottawa Fire Services said in a news release. "Firefighters brought the occupant outside and assessed and treated the occupant prior to Ottawa Paramedics arriving on scene."

Ottawa police said a 67-year-old woman died as a result of the fire. One other person suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Friends and neighbours identified the woman who died as Shirley Bennett. Neighbours said she used a wheelchair and had recently moved into the apartment.

Shirley Bennett, 67, died after a fire in her apartment building on Wiggins Private. March 7, 2023. (Supplied)

"She is a good friend of mine. I've known her since my grandson was 3 years old… he is 14 now," said Michelle Desrosiers.

Residents say Bennett loved her dog and spent time with neighbours.

"All the people in the neighbourhood knew her as a good person, we celebrated her birthday five months ago," said Raymond Lafleur.

The Office of the Fire Marshal and the Ottawa police arson unit are investigating the fire.

Ottawa Community Housing owns the building and says no one else was displaced. An OC Transpo bus was on scene to shelter other people who evacuated the building, fire officials said.

OCH says its thoughts are with Bennett's family at this time.

Neighbours say the tragedy will bring them closer together.

"We do everything as a community and it's so sad that we lost somebody in a fire," said Melissa Stillwell.

- with files from Leah Larocque, CTV News Ottawa