An update on Thursday morning’s fatal fire on the 400 block of Algonquin Avenue.

Just after 3:30 am fire crews arrived to find a working fire on the second floor of a three storey duplex.

In a release, Fire Chief Jason Whiteley says the building did have working smoke alarms that alerted the tenants to the fire.

“North Bay Fire and Emergency Services wants to stress the importance of having a working smoke alarm on every level and adjacent to all sleeping areas to provide early detection and notification; and to ensure that residents and families have an escape plan with 2 ways out,” he adds.

He also says it could also have been much worse due to another factor.

“It would have been a lot worse too if that building hadn’t been a former rooming house that was forced to get up to code by the fire department. Rooming houses have to meet a retrofit part of the Ontario Fire Code,” Whiteley says.

The Ontario Fire Marshal’s office and city Fire Prevention spent much of the day on Thursday at the scene investigating the cause and origin of the fire.

Earlier, Deputy Fire Chief Greg Saunders said crews rescued three people when they first arrived on the scene.

“When we arrived on scene, there was one person hanging out of the window on one side and two people on the roof, on the front.  Fire fighters immediately performed a rescue and rescued these people from the structure,” he said.

A fourth person was found inside without vital signs.

Fire crews began resuscitation immediately with patient care transferred to North Bay EMS, which transported the victim to hospital.

Algonquin Avenue was closed for a few hours between Jane and Copeland after the fire.