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One man was taken into custody after his mother was rescued from a three-alarm blaze in a row of stacked condos in Orléans early Sunday morning.

The major crimes unit is investigating a stabbing and a fire at 3275 St. Joseph Blvd., Ottawa police said in a news release late Sunday night.

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Smoke and flames were visible just after 7:30 a.m. at the St. Joseph address, with many callers reporting the blaze to emergency services. Witnesses said they heard an explosion before seeing flames shooting from the windows of a unit at the address.

Neighbours said they heard loud bangs, breaking glass and then a woman screaming in the fire that engulfed at least one unit, possibly two, near 10th Line Road. One neighbour said he heard a woman in the unit yelling, “He is trying to kill me.”

Rick Gauthier, who lives next door to the unit, said he had tried to get the woman to come out through a window but was hampered by a wall of black smoke. Firefighters later “miraculously” pulled her from the flames and heavy smoke, Gauthier said. Witnesses said the woman was taken from the unit bleeding and covered in soot.

A younger man was later rescued from the same unit by firefighters and handcuffed by police before being taken away, witnesses said.

Police said the woman was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries while the man, who was found unconscious, suffered serious smoke inhalation injuries and was transferred to a Toronto-area hospital. One firefighter was also reported to have been injured in the fire, though the extent of the injuries was not immediately known.

Neighbours said longtime resident Christine Valois lived in the unit where the fire occurred. Her adult son had been living there in recent months, they said.

Jocelyne Palmer, who lives next door, said she at first thought the bang was from a crash on the Queensway or an earthquake. When she got outside, she learned it was a fire in her friend’s unit. “We ran outside and all I could think about was Christine. I hope she is all right.”

Police said about 30 people were evacuated from their homes and were being assisted by community organizations. Many residents still in pyjamas were staying warm inside OC Transpo buses on scene, some with pets. One woman who was passing by arranged to have coffee handed out to those temporarily displaced.