A 55-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious burns to his legs after a hot water pipe burst at a downtown Ottawa apartment building Friday morning.

Paramedics were called to an Ottawa Community Housing building at 450 Laurier Avenue West shortly after 8 a.m.

Mobile users click here for a resident's Tweet with photo.

Crystal Macormack, who lives on the seventh floor, said parts of the building are flooded, with damage to about 30 units.

She believes a resident left a balcony door open, causing the pipe to freeze and burst.

"I come into the building at ground floor, okay, and I see water pouring. The ground floor is water, water everywhere," she said. "From seven all the way to the ground floor, units have been damaged."

Ottawa Community Housing said no residents will be displaced.