Fire victims were trespassing at development site: police
Ontario Fire Marshal still probing cause of blaze at former pub
Hamilton police say the people inside a former Irish pub that was razed in a fire in the middle of the night Monday weren’t there legally.
While it remains unclear how many people were present at 537 King St. E. when it went up in flames around 1:30 a.m. on Monday, Const. Krista-Lee Ernst said police believe those who were there “didn’t have the authority to be on the premises.”
Two people were taken to hospital after the fire at the three-storey property, which once house Rebel’s Rock Irish Pub.
Hamilton firefighters found one of them outside on the front lawn, while another was located critically injured on the second-floor after crews heard yells coming from upstairs.
The Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) — which was notified about the blaze due to the severity of injuries — had no update into their probe Tuesday, saying only that its examination of the scene is now complete.
“Further analysis will be required to determine the cause, origin and circumstance of the fire,” spokesperson Sean Driscoll said over email.
The OFM said it couldn’t answer whether there were squatters potentially living at the property.
The site has been tabbed for an eight-storey condo development with nearly 120 units, according to a “staging of development” reported released last January, which didn’t indicate whether the project has been approved.
Property records show the residence was sold to a numbered Ontario corporation in October 2021 for $1.7 million.
The director of that company is listed in corporate records as Benjamin Julius.
At the fire scene on Monday, a man who identified himself only as Ben said he was the developer of the condo project. He told The Spectator his property has had trouble in recent months with squatters breaking in and added the building was supposed to be vacant at the time of the blaze.
Renderings of the project, seen on the website of developer Lion Heart Development, show the front half of 537 King incorporated into a multistorey condo building that spans several parcels of land.
Representatives of Lion Heart Development couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday.