Firefighters battle blaze in downtown Grimsby

GRIMSBY — Downtown Grimsby, a town just east of Hamilton, had to be evacuated Thursday after a fire ripped through a building and took more than five hours to get under control.

The blaze seemed controllable at first but proved stubborn and eventually spread, flooding the downtown with clouds of smoke.

Grimsby, Lincoln and West Lincoln fire crews all attended the scene of the blaze at the corner of Main Street and Elm Street.

At around 1:30 p.m. those working inside the hair salon at the corner were advised that the back porch was on fire.

“Someone knocked at the back door,” said Sarah Wrabiutza, who works at the Dressing Room salon.

She said she and other staff were concerned about the two dogs left in the apartment upstairs, but they were quickly evacuated.

“I was just in my apartment,” said Jessica Hansplant, who lives in the building nearby. She looked out the window and said “the whole back of the building was engulfed.”

Crews worked diligently to contain the fire, but it spread to the building next door.

Lisa Allsop, a co-owner of the yoga studio, stood back and watched her entire studio burn Thursday afternoon.

“I was in the back room of the studio organizing stuff,” she said. She heard someone enter the studio and came out front, but nobody was there. But then two men came in from the building next door and told her there was a fire.

At that point, her building looked as though it was completely unaffected. Things got worse, however, as the hours passed.

Allsop’s business partner, Claire Mathews, said she’s glad nobody was hurt, and really at the end of the day, it’s only material items.

“Honestly, a couple hours ago, I thought we might have some smoke damage. Now I’m not even sure if we’re going to have a building tomorrow,” she said. “Now we’re watching our business burn to the ground.”

As smoke billowed from the building it enveloped the downtown, where the Grimsby Farmers’ market was being held.

At around the same time, police circulated around downtown businesses and told occupants to evacuate the buildings.

Firefighters utilized several aerial trucks to battle the blaze, working to try and stop the fire from spreading to neighbouring businesses, including the post office. After a couple hours, the fire started to take a turn, with flames spreading across the rooftops. The escalating situation prompted police to order the evacuation and closure of all businesses on Main Street.

At times, the streets surrounding the fire were filled with thick black smoke. At one point, the roof of the yoga studio collapsed. Officials said the fire was contained around 7:30 p.m.