Two taken to hospital after blaze at Alfred Street house

Just before 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday night, Emergency Services responded to a fire at 307 Alfred St. that hospitalized two people.

As Kingston Fire and Rescue worked to put out a blaze that had broken out in the rear of the four-duplex building, Kingston Police closed off Alfred St. from Brock St. to Princess St.

Platoon Chief Shawn Babcock told The Journal two people were taken to the hospital with undetermined injuries. Residents who live on the building’s lower floors were allowed to retrieve some of their belongings once the fire had been put out.

Babcock said the cause of the fire was unclear.

When crews arrived on the scene, he said there was “extremely heavy smoke and flame” coming from the building. Babcock said the crew had trouble extinguishing the flames because there several difficult and confined spaces responders couldn’t access. 

“[They] had to chase the fire down,” Babcock said.

A student who lives on the building’s first floor told The Journal she was working in a psychology lab on campus when the fire started.

“One of my friends had messaged me and I didn’t see the message because I was working, but she then called me [and asked] if I lived at this address. I said yes and then she told me that it was on fire.”

The student returned home and was allowed to enter the building to gather some of her belongings once it was safe to do so.  

“They were having issues because there are a lot of false ceilings and eaves just from repairs over time, but it was just the back of the house that seemed to have damage,” she said.