Firefighters kept busy with two major blazes


Brantford firefighters battle a blaze Tuesday evening at Colborne and King streets in downtown Brantford. Brian Thompson BRIAN THOMPSON / BRIAN THOMPSON/THE EXPOSITOR

Brantford firefighters were kept busy with two major structure fires within a 24-hour period.

At 8:26 p.m. on Tuesday, personnel from all four stations responded to a fire call at a mixed residential and commercial building at 64 Colborne St., at the corner of King Street.

And, at 9:40 a.m. Wednesday, crews from three stations were dispatched to the former Brantford Hotel at 666 Colborne St. to find smoke pouring from the building, which has been ordered demolished by the city.

At Tuesday’s fire, crews were “confronted with heavy smoke and fire conditions,” Deputy Fire Chief Todd Binkley said. “Eventually, fire crews had to retreat due to the high heat, and began defensive operations from the exterior.”

Binkley said firefighters confirmed that all residents were out of the building and accounted for.

Off-duty personnel were called to bolster firefighting efforts, which continued through to Wednesday morning before the fire was extinguished, he said.

Crews remained on scene into the mid-afternoon, along with fire prevention officials and the Ontario Fire Marshall to investigate the cause of the fire.

The deputy chief noted that staff from the city’s building inspection department also were on scene to determine if the building remains structurally sound.

“Some residents living in properties adjacent to the fire have been evacuated for their safety,” Binkley noted. “We’re making a determination on when and if they can return.”

One resident in a second-storey apartment, who only wanted to be identified as Charlie, said he was returning home from playing darts when he saw smoke and flames coming from the building.

“It was a shock,” said Charlie, adding that his first thought was for the well being of his roommate, Pete, who was sleeping at the time.

“The smoke woke him up.”

Charlie said he was escorted into his apartment Wednesday morning to retrieve his cellphone.

“The kitchen ceiling is on the floor, and the bedroom ceiling is on my bed,” he stated. “Fortunately, the wind was blowing away from our unit, otherwise everything would have been lost.”

He said he expects to be displaced for two to three months but has insurance to cover his accommodation expenses.

Meanwhile, at the former Brantford Hotel, firefighters found a “working fire on the first floor,” Binkley said.

“Crews worked to extinguish the fire, which was focused on contents, but also extended into the roof structure.”

The deputy chief said the fires stretched the department’s resources “but crews are holding up well and standing up to the challenge of the workload and the cold weather.”

Binkley said that, in extreme weather conditions, firefighters are given the opportunity to get into a warm vehicle to warm up.

Aurora Hotel Group, a Vaughan-based developer that began renovations in 2016 to make the former Brantford Hotel into a Four Points Sheraton hotel, has until April 30 to comply with an order from the city to demolish the building. The vacant property has been vandalized and the scene of several suspicious fires.

Link to original article on brantfordexpositor.ca: Firefighters kept busy with two major blazes

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