Firefighters blasted streams of water at a fire-ravaged vacant three-story building in Saint John’s north end this morning.
Crews were working to douse hot spots from the blaze, which was reported to the fire department just before 6:30 a.m.
Saint John firefighters are working to extinguish a fire in a vacant three-story building at 27-31 Metcalf Street. pic.twitter.com/7HDnKeyyYe
— Laura Lyall (@LauraLyall) May 30, 2018
Fire chief Kevin Clifford says when firefighters arrived on scene at 27-31 Metcalf Street they found heavy fire in the back of the building, the fire had gone up straight through all three floors, into the roof and across the rooftop.
The building has been gutted by the fire with the roof completely burned off.
Saint John fire chief Kevin Clifford says firefighters are now working to put out hotspots. pic.twitter.com/k6eB5fVEVg
— Laura Lyall (@LauraLyall) May 30, 2018
“We did evacuate at least one of the homes on what we would call our D-side, because it’s fairly close,” says Clifford, “and most of our concern there, especially in the later stages was around exposure to the smoke.”
Clifford says they are having an assessment done on the structural integrity and the building may collapse at some point on its own.
As for the cause, Clifford says that evidence points to that this was most likely intentional.
This is the second major fire in a vacant building in the city’s north end in just a couple of weeks.
— Laura Lyall (@LauraLyall) May 30, 2018
