A man and his 12-year-old daughter are in hospital after a fire broke out in an apartment building in Montreal.
The fire began shortly after midnight at 3204 Des Ormeaux St., near Sherbrooke St., producing considerable amounts of smoke and flame as it spread from the ground floor to the second storey and roof.
Several people were able to evacuate the building on their own, including a 12-year-old girl who had inhaled enough smoke to put her life in danger.
She was rushed to hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile firefighters battling the flames discovered her father, unconscious and partially burned, had collapsed on the floor of the apartment where the fire is believed to have started. He was taken to Hotel Dieu hospital in critical condition, with bad burns to his airway.
Several nearby buildings were evacuated because the clouds of smoke were making breathing difficult.
Three of the building's eight apartments were damaged, but the other dozen residents of the building were able to escape without injury.
Firefighters say not a single apartment in the building where the fire began had a working smoke detector.
