'My husband broke down the door': Fatal townhouse fire in Kitchener under investigation

One person is dead after a townhouse fire in Kitchener.

One person is dead after a townhouse fire in Kitchener.

Three stations were called to the scene at Holborn Drive around 4:30 a.m. Saturday.

The fire tore through one unit of the complex, causing extensive damage and forcing neighbours to evacuate.

"My husband broke down the door so he thought they were in the unit, he broke the door down and started screaming but they weren't in there and we didn't hear anything and there was so much smoke that he was not going in," said Samantha Nowak who lives in the neighbouring unit.

Nowak says it was a frightening moment when she heard loud noises coming from the unit beside her in the early hours of the morning.

"We heard a lot of yelling and then we smelled smoke around 4:30 in the morning and that's when the first fire started," she said. "I could smell the smoke in my bedroom so I leaned my head out and I could see all the smoke coming out of their bedroom."

After she was told by emergency personnel there was nothing more to worry about, Nowak and her family went back to sleep, only to be woken up just a few hours later.