Crews were called to the Good Samaritan Inn early this morning for a fire.
Timmins Fire Department Chief Fire Prevention Officer Rock Rice said the call came in around 3:40 a.m.
A couple hours after crews arrived on scene, heavy smoke and, at times, flames could be seen coming from the top of the two-storey building at the corner of Evans Street and Golden Avenue in South Porcupine.
Roads in the area are closed to traffic while crews work at the scene.
The building is a homeless shelter, and Rice said two people were rescued and brought to Timmins and District Hospital. While there were other people inside at the time, Rice believes everyone is accounted for and taken to the Senator Hotel.
"Upon arrival, one resident was rescued from the blaze by paramedics that were already on scene. Firefighters proceeded to rescue a second resident from the fire," reads a statement from the fire department.
Rice said the fire started on the second floor.
“For the cause and the origin, we don’t know yet, the fire’s still ongoing. I hope that we’ll be investigating the fire in the morning, but it doesn’t look good because it’ll take some time to find out the cause,” he said.
Just before 7 a.m., Rice said there were still flames on the second floor and that the roof had collapsed.
“It’s going to be a tricky fire to investigate, but we’ll try our best,” he said.
Crews from throughout the city are at the scene, including volunteers from the Whitney, South Porcupine, Schumacher and Mountjoy stations, along with Timmins Fire Department staff.
Because the power has been turned off in the area, Golden Avenue Public School is closed today.
According to Timmins Police, its criminal investigations division has been deployed to help determine the origin of the fire.
"They are in the preliminary stages of their investigation and are working in consultation with the Fire Marshall's Office," reads a statement from police.
Anyone with information is asked to call Timmins Police at 705-264-1201 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
