Officials have confirmed that a 19-year-old male University of Windsor student has died following an early morning fire on Rankin Avenue.
There was little left of the home at 227 Rankin Ave., after fire broke out around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
“Looked outside and there was just flames,” says neighbour Sara Patrick.
Neighbours say the home was fully engulfed and flames were shooting out from all around it.
“Flames were coming out from under porch and what seemed to be some students outside that were in distress,” says Jesse Golding.
Five people were taken to hospital with smoke inhalation, but one person did not make it out alive.
“We saw them carry out the ... I'm not sure who it was. They were doing CPR, then put them in the ambulance,” says Patrick.
Patrick lives across the street. She woke up to her dog barking and people yelling outside.
“I could feel the heat from my window across the street,” says Patrick. It was very hot, huge flames everywhere. It happened quick too. At first, it was nothing bad and then all of a sudden, it was crazy, tonnes of flames.”
Hospital officials confirm the five survivors from the fatal house fire have now been treated and released.
Akose Atagbuzia and Nsisong Umoh both visited the scene of the fire on Wednesday. Both say the knew three of the fire victims who were treated in hospital.
They tell CTV Windsor all three friends are second year engineering students at the University of Windsor who happen to be from Nigeria.
Investigators from the Ontario Fire Marshal's Office were on scene Wednesday, but they say it’s too early to indicate what might have caused the home to go up in flames.
Carol Gravelle with the Fire Marshal's Office says Windsor police are now involved in the investigation.
Windsor Police have set up a mobile command centre on Rankin Avenue for the investigation.
Police will only say it's too early to determine if anything criminal happened.
