Former Queen Street East vape shop goes up in smoke
Wednesday morning blaze under investigation, no injuries reported
An early morning fire Wednesday saw firefighters battling a blaze at the former Silly Rabbit Vape Shop at 645-647 Queen Street East.
Emergency services blocked off a large portion of Queen Street -- from East to Brock streets -- to traffic as firefighters battled a raging fire.
A downtown resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said he noticed the flames around 8:30 a.m. as he was getting out of bed.
Firefighters appeared to have the blaze under control around 9 a.m., however, a short time later, the roof of the building was suddenly consumed by flames, forcing first responders to redouble their efforts.
It was about an hour later when it appeared the fire was again under control, with the structure being solid enough to allow them to climb to the top of the building.
There are currently no reported civilian or firefighter injuries, Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services public information officer Aaron Gravelle told The Sault Star Wednesday, adding firefighters remain on scene conducting overhaul operations. An origin and cause investigation cannot commence until after firefighters have completed all operations and the scene is safe for investigators, he said.
While one source told The Sault Star they believed squatters were recently occupying the vacant building, that may not be the recent case. A contractor had been working on the second and third storey floors of the building, renovating those floors for residential units.
The Sault Star reached out to property owner Asim Bhatti for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Frank Bentrovato, the city's co-ordinator of building inspections and bylaw enforcement, told The Sault Star that the unit had an active permit and a contractor had been doing work on the site.
There has been no confirmation of squatters in the building, he said.
While Bentrovato said he couldn't provide the contractor's name, he said inspections had been done on the property and renovations to convert the upper levels from commercial property to residential units was ongoing.
That means a vacant building permit would not be issued on the building because a work permit is in effect.
In the past, the city had issued two orders to the owner in connection with completing work without a permit, but that permit has since been obtained.
“Based on our knowledge, that permit was obtained and there was work that was ongoing on the upper levels,” Bentrovato said.
He said the contractor was onsite Wednesday morning while firefighters were battling the blaze.
The former vape shop is attached to The Grand Theatre, Loplops, Rowe's Barber Shop and the Duke of Windsor.
Stephen Alexander, owner of Loplops, said the vacant vape shop had a lot of garbage and debris in the unit, especially on the second and third floors.
Alexander said the downtown tends to attract squatters and homeless people, some of whom have been seen in the area of the now fire-ravaged building.
“If we saw people lingering, we would report it, but lately we've been busy with the Beer Festival and not paying too much attention,” Alexander said. “It's really hard to keep an eye on things, and even during renovations, when the building is unoccupied at night and you don't know what is really going on.”
He said the out-of-town owner hasn't been seen in “eight or nine years.
“I'm sure we all found out about the fire before him,” Alexander said.
He believes the building itself is now “pretty compromised” as a result of the fire and has no idea how fire investigators will determine the cause of the fire.
Meanwhile, Alexander said his business “definitely has smoke damage and likely water damage in the basement from all the water being poured on the fire.”
Alexander was able to enter his unit briefly to shut off an alarm for firefighters but wasn't in Loplops long enough to complete an assessment of damage, and that could be a couple of days away.
“It's frustrating. We completely renovated the front last year,” he said. “We can't even come up with a game plan until we know what we're facing.”
His business is insured, but navigating through insurance claims often takes time, he said.
Alexander said he was hoping to get ready to open up his restaurant on Richards Landing now that the Beer Festival is behind him, but that could likely be delayed.
In a December feature story on Loplops celebrating 20 years in business, The Sault Star reported that the site, adorned with a renovated front area, a small patio and large exterior sign, had a new look, thanks, in part, to its some $24,000 share of $1.8 million provincial Northern Ontario Recovery Program dollars Sault businesses received in 2021 to reimburse them for money spent on pandemic-related expenses.
“Moving into 2024, it will be very interesting because I feel we will be re-invested in the downtown,” said Alexander then.
Bentrovato said that once the fire is under control and the fire department completes its investigation, the building division will conduct its own investigation forthwith.
Generally, inspectors review structural damage, complete a safety review and reach out to the property owner with a report identifying the damage and how it needs to be corrected.
If the owner fails to correct the damage, and the building is unsafe, appropriate action is taken, Bentrovato said.
The city will also review adjacent buildings to determine what, if any, effect the fire had on their property.
“Some of those buildings are very old and we will need to access them to determine if they are safe,” he said.
He anticipates an inspection will occur quickly once the scene is released by the fire department.
“It's definitely on our radar and we move quickly to determine what action needs to be taken,” Bentrovato said.
It's not the first fire that has begun in a vacant building in Sault Ste. Marie.
Last December, a couple died in a fire at 267 Huron St,, a boarded-up residence south of Wellington Street East. It, too, was owned by an out-oftown businessman.