FAMILIES EVACUATED
Fire forces five people, animal out of North Sydney house.
Five people and an animal were left unharmed after a structure fire early Tuesday morning on the Northside.
The fire happened around 12:11 a.m. at 18 Peppett St. in North Sydney and caused the evacuation of two families living in the downstairs apartments of the two-storey building.
It’s believed the fire may have started on the second floor of the structure, however those details were not confirmed.
The North Sydney and Sydney Mines volunteer fire departments
responded to the scene with close to 30 firefighters battling the blaze. The departments remained on scene until 3:30 a.m.
“From the outside you can’t really tell that it burned, aside from a little bit,” said North Sydney Fire Chief Lloyd MacIntosh.
“It was mostly smoke, but there was a small amount of flame that we could see (upon arrival), but most of it was smoke — we extinguished the fire.”
The structure housed two apartments with the top floor being used as a storage area by a local businessman.
The blue building, located at the corner of Peppett and Pleasant streets, was known as the former IOOF hall and for many years was used as a dance studio.
“We used the ladder truck and made entry to the building,” said MacIntosh. “Because of the weather and temperature conditions, we called for help (from Sydney Mines) right away as we didn’t want any firefighters getting hurt.”
Smoke could still be smelled from the fire throughout the neighbourhood mid-morning Tuesday. A security guard was also on scene. An investigation was expected to take place Tuesday afternoon to determine the cause of the fire. The cause remained unknown at press time.