No serious injuries have been reported after a Thursday afternoon fire in west Saint John.
Flames broke out in a home on Riverview Drive, located next to Route 1, around 2:30 p.m.
Platoon Chief Brian Wilson with the Saint John Fire Department said firefighters were met with heavy smoke and heat.
“It was extreme heat in there,” Wilson said in a phone interview Thursday evening. “That precipitated one of our members having to get looked at by EMS for exposure to that kind of heat.”
The firefighter was checked over by paramedics from Ambulance New Brunswick and released, he said.
Wilson said crews had to conduct a search of the home as it was initially unclear whether the homeowner was inside.
The resident was, in fact, not inside at the time and did not suffer any injuries.
Wilson said this was a particularly difficult fire to try and bring under control.
“For the size of the building, pound for pound, it was challenging,” he said. “There were many layers to the roofs and whatnot over the years.”
Fire officials are still trying to determine how the blaze started, said Wilson.
