Firefighters are still trying to put out a fire that has destroyed at least three buildings and is spreading.
It’s believed the fire started early this morning around 2:30 a.m. in an abandoned building where Sushi Island was once located on Main Street and quickly spread to Hair Bizzare, which has also been closed for several years, Literacy Nipissing and the North Bay Nurse Practitioner Clinic at 179 Main Street East.
Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli’s constituency office could also be damaged.
“We’re still in an active fire fight,” Fire Chief Jason Whiteley told The Nugget this morning at 5:30 a.m.
As of 7:15 a.m. fire crews were still trying to gain control of the fire. Flames and smoke could be seen from across the city.
“There’s smoke coming out of the big window at the bottom of the clinic,” said Allannah Meunier-Gauthier.
Jordain Pinkerton said she was with her boyfriend driving back from a friend’s house around midnight when he commented about the smell of smoke.
“It was like a faint burning smell,” she told The Nugget. “It was enough that he stopped and said “I smell smoke.” There was no indication of a fire except for that. We came back an hour later to crazy smoke and fire trucks everywhere.”
Pinkerton said there was a huge trail of black smoke billowing from the downtown core.
“You could see the reflection of the smoke above the building. And there was concern because there are apartments above those businesses.”
City buses were used to allow firefighters to change, hydrate and rotate in new crews.
Whiteley said Main Street and Oak Street remain closed at this time while crews attend a “significant” fire in the downtown core.
He said the fire has damaged the area from 159 to 171 Main Street East to Oak Street.
Pinkerton said fire crews were spraying water continuously, but the fire didn’t seem to be fazed by it at all.
“It seemed to have caught fire fast and spread quickly.”
Another witness said the door to Sushi Island had been broken and people were going in and out of the building, however nobody reported it.
The city’s bus terminal on Oak Street has also been open for people affected by the fire to seek refuge from the cold, as well, Red Cross has been called in to assist.
Those affected by the fire will be put up in hotels for three days and their animals have also been taken care of.
Link to original article on nugget.ca: "We're still in an active fire fight," North Bay Fire Chief - UPDATED