A smashed window leads to a gutted apartment at the scene of this morning's highrise fire on Playfair Dr. (DARREN BROWN Ottawa Sun)

One man is dead and three others remain in hospital with serious injuries after a major early-morning highrise fire in central Ottawa.

The three patients in hospital, all reported by paramedics to be elderly men, suffered injuries both from smoke and the intense flames. One of them was also last reported in critical condition.

Paramedics treated several others at the scene for minor smoke inhalation but they didn't require hospital treatment.

Fire crews were called to 1695 Playfair Dr. just after 4:30 a.m. Firefighters had to rescue several people from their balconies as flames roared through the second floor down the main hallway. Heavy smoke added to the danger and spread through much of the 15-storey building.

Ron Hume and Pat Elderkin, a couple in their mid-70s, awoke to their second floor apartment filling with smoke.

"Pat went to the door and looked through the peephole and there was nothing but flames and smoke," Hume said. "The flames came under the door along with the smoke."

Fire even consumed a chair beside the couple's apartment door. They fled to the balcony.

"We yelled our heads off, 'Fire! Fire! Fire!'," Hume said.

Firefighters plucked them off the balcony with a ladder. They weren't injured.

George Dicker, local disaster management co-ordinator for the Red Cross, said most of the dispalced residents were elderly.

"One particular apartment lost everything," Dicker said.

"The majority of people are upset with what's going on, with the holiday season and all."

It appears the fire started in a corner unit on the south side, which has been gutted.

The fire was extinguished in 21 minutes after firefighters arrived. Due to the fatality and serious injuries, police and fire officials are treating the fire as suspicious. Investigators from the Ontario Fire Marshal's Office have been called in.

Displaced residents were sheltered in a city bus until they were given the OK to return. While most residents are now back in their apartments, others aren't being allowed back and will be put up in a hotel with help from the Red Cross and Salvation Army if they can't find other temporary accommodations.

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