2 injured in fire at historic Charlottetown apartment building

Charlottetown firefighters and police were on the scene of a fire at an apartment building in the city's downtown Wednesday night.

The fire was in a historic building at the corner of Pownal and Sydney streets.Charlottetown police Cpl. Tim Keizersaid there was a lot of smoke in the building when firefighters arrived at about 8 p.m.

"The fire department did remove two people from the building," Keizer told CBC News on the scene of the fire Wednesday night.

On Thursday morning, Charlottetown police said one those two people was treated and released. The other, a woman, was airlifted to Halifax for treatment of the injuries she suffered.

Early indications point to an electrical fire, said police, but the investigation is not yet complete.

Kent Mitchell, Charlottetown's deputy fire chief, said the fire appears to have originated on the first floor of the building, but the exact cause won't be known for a couple of days.

He said one of the people was rescued from the first floor, and the other was taken from the second storey using a ladder truck.

"It really doesn't take a whole lot of fire to produce a lot of smoke in a building," Mitchell said. "That's why we really stress smoke alarms in all apartments... [and] make sure you change your battery."

The building dates from 1866, and was once the Wagstaff Hotel.