One man dead after Sunday's 'intense' fire in downtown Kenora, Ont.

The director of the Fellowship Centre in Kenora, Ont., says it wasa "sombre morning" in the community on Monday as it mournedthe death of a local man ina fire in the downtown core on Sunday afternoon.

"One of our community members passed away in the fire, so we lit our fire this morning, and we had prayers with everybody outside,"Fellowship Centre directorYvonne Bearbull told CBC News.

The Kenora fire department estimates that around 16 people lost their homes in the fire, based on the number of individuals who had formal rental agreements with the building-owner, fire chief ToddSkene told CBC.

But it's hard to know the true number of people left homeless, Bearbull added.

"It was a low-income housing unit," she explained. "Because of the homelessness rate in Kenora, there was a lot of people staying with friends,so it's really hard to say how many people were actually in the building."

Fire crews battled the blaze on the 100 block of Main Street South for around 11 hours on Sunday,Skenesaid.

The three-story building had a clothing store on the main floor and a 12-room rooming house on the upper floors, which contained shared bathrooms and no kitchen facilities, he said.

'Heart warming' reactions from community

The Fellowship Centre has beenbusysince Sunday afternoon as staff kept thedoors opento help displaced individuals, Bearbull said.

"I think we had about 15 people staying here last nightnot all displaced, of course," she said.

The centre has also been asking for donations of items such as blankets, clothes and shoes to help those who have been affected bySunday's fire.

The response from the community, Bearbull said, has been "encourage and so heart warming."

"We were here 'til latelast night, and when the appeal came, there was people just streaming and cars just pulling up and dropping off everything like ... shoes and jackets," Bearbull explained, adding that there were"people of all ages coming in, visibly upset and wanting to help."

The Fellowship Centre is nowasking the public for donations of backpacks, as well as housing opportunities from anyone who has space available to rent.

"The building was going to close down April 1, so a lot of people have been looking for places and new homes ... so we're hoping some people might be willing to rent out starting on April 1," she said.

'Total loss' of the building

Thebuilding on Main Street Southis a total loss, Skene said.

By the time crews arrived onSunday, the fire was"fully involved" with "lots of black smoke," he added.

They had to fight the fire from outside because it was too hot to enter the building.

They even brought in an excavator to tear off the front of the structure in order to help them reach hot spots and prevent the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.

The cause of the blazeis still under investigation, Skene said, and no other details have been released about the deceased man.

"We are working closely with Ontario Provincial Police, and we have the Fire Marshal's office currently en route with an investigator from Southern Ontario," Skene said.

OPP are asking residents to avoid the area Monday to help prevent traffic congestion, as crews will be on the scene for an undetermined amount of time.