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Six people, one dog and a cat were forced out of their homes on Wednesday night after a fire in two Orléans townhouse units.

According to Ottawa Fire Services, the end unit of a six-unit row of townhouses on Destiny Private in the city’s east end caught fire around 7:15 p.m., starting from the back deck and spreading to the roof and attic.

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Firefighters said the unit next door sustained smoke damage as a result of the fire. While the cause of the blaze had not been confirmed, one firefighter at the scene said that damage to the main unit was “pretty extensive.”

The fire was declared under control by 7:41 p.m.

Fire services said the residents of the homes were uninjured, but that there were “reported firefighter injuries that are non-critical in nature.” Three people, aged 7, 36 and 42, in the home where the fire initially started were displaced, along with three more people next door, aged 25, 26 and 65.

Photo by Kieran Delamont / Postmedia

A near-casualty of the fire was the family cat, which may now be down to only eight lives. “While doing a secondary search on the second floor of 121 Destiny, firefighters found a cat alive and brought it outside and reunited with its owner,” fire services said in a news release. An emergency response worker with the Salvation Army also said that the family had a dog, and that it was all right, too.

Residents of the home did not wish to be interviewed or identified.

A fire investigator was on scene to determine the cause of the fire.