As many as 70 residents were displaced from their homes Sunday afternoon when a nasty fire broke out in a rowhouse complex in the Baseline-Merivale area.

Ottawa firefighters worked on the four-alarm blaze well into the evening, long after smoke was first reported at 12:30 p.m. Some 42 units were affected and damage was estimated between $3 million and $3.5 million.

Flames were visible when crews arrived at 34 Northview Rd., and it wasn’t long before the fire spread. Many neighbours in adjacent highrises took to their balconies to photograph or record flames licking through shingle rooftops.

Axelle Manley, 44, lives in one of the eight units in No. 34. After hearing an alarm, she was able to escape unharmed but was told she had lost all her pets: three cats, two birds and two geckos.

“I looked out into the hallway and noticed that one side of the building was in flames. I grabbed my daughter, some winter coats and blankets, and ran outside.”

In the panic, there just wasn’t time to gather up the pets, she said.

OC Transpo buses and the Salvation Army canteen were also dispatched to deal with the displaced. No injuries had been reported.

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