Tenants escape, firefighters knock down Bridgetown apartment fire
The tenants of four apartment units in a Granville Street complex were forced out by fire late Wednesday afternoon.
It looks like they won’t be going back soon.
“It came in as a structure fire,” said Bridgetown Chief Randy Sheridan at the scene. “When I arrived here on scene there was heavy smoke and fire showing from the roof line and the attic windows.”
He said Lawrencetown and Annapolis Royal fire departments were paged at the same time as Bridgetown – just after 5 p.m.
The old house, nicknamed the Blue Lagoon according to some, is at 329 Granville St. next door to the Bridgetown Curling Club where less than 24 hours earlier Nova Scotia Premier Stephen Mcneil celebrated his second provincial election victory.
Spectators lined the sidewalks across from the fire, and some said the new owner of the building had been doing some repairs and updates to the building such as new roof shingles and fresh paint.
Annapolis District RCMP were on the scene, as well as Nova Scotia Power crews and EHS.
Granville Street was closed to traffic for about two blocks with motorists detouring around the fire scene for several hours.
Tenants
Several tenants were able to retrieve some of their belongings and stood on the sidewalk with suitcases as they watched firefighters and hoped for the best.
Sheridan said he had talked with a couple of the tenants.
“One of them was asleep and woke up,” Sheridan said. “He came right out and got a few of the other ones out.”
The chief said when he arrived, everybody was out - and he arrived before his fire trucks were on scene.
Firefighters used gas-powered saws to cut holes through the roof at both ends of the building.
“They were ventilation holes to let smoke and heat out – get rid of some of the hot gases,” said Sheridan, “to make it a little more comfortable for the guys.”
He meant more comfortable for the firefighters inside the building.
“The first crew went in interior attack, inside, knocked it down,” he said, “and then when we had the aerial set up we went in through into the attic – through the end of the attic – to knock down a lot of it.”
They couldn’t get it all from the outside so attacked it from the inside again with crews pulling down ceilings and wall coverings so they could get to the fire.
Under Control
By 7 p.m. the fire was all but out.
“I haven’t been inside to check it out,” said Sheridan after the fire was under control, “but there was some fire on the first floor and in the attic. Chances are it’s balloon frame.”
Many old houses have balloon frame construction where fire on a ground floor can run up inside a wall to the attic because there is nothing to stop it.
Sheridan said he didn’t know how much structural damage the fire caused inside the building.
“I haven’t been in yet to even start any kind of investigation. We’re still actually chasing a few hot spots and some extension on the fire right now. So until we get that completely out I won’t know a whole lot, not until I get inside.”
He said there were no occupant injuries and no pets in the building that he’s aware of.
“I never heard of any pets. Nobody asked and nobody said anything about pets,” he said. “I asked some of the tenants and most of them that I saw and talked to said they didn’t have any pets.”
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
Sheridan had not been able to contact the homeowner who doesn’t live in Bridgetown.