Fire crews battle 3-alarm fire in downtown Hamilton
Posted June 18, 2022 9:15 am.
Last Updated June 18, 2022 2:24 pm.
No injuries have been reported following a three-alarm fire that caused the collapse of a vacant commercial building in downtown Hamilton on Saturday.
Fire crews were called to the four storey century building at 206 King Street West around 6 a.m. When they arrived they found the building fully engulfed and firefighters were quickly forced into a defensive position.
“We found fire on the first floor and we started to experience heavy and high heat,” said Fire Chief Dave Cunliffe. “Smoke conditions were changing rapidly and due to the change in fire conditions, we brought out crews out for their safety.”
Dark plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the downtown area.
#Hamilton fire @ King & Bay #hamont #ontario pic.twitter.com/AHElDIezAY
— 谢裕笙 (@Dokitope) June 18, 2022
A large portion of the building has collapsed and caused damage to a neighbouring structure.
“As we were fighting the fire from inside, we had a structural collapse,” said Cunliffe. “We’ve had walls on all four sides of the building come down. On the east side, it came down on the neighbouring building.”
Embers from the blaze are believed to be responsible for a separate fire that ignited on a balcony of a condo building across the street.
“Fire crews were very quick to respond and we got that fire out with minimal damage to the balcony,” said Cunliffe.
Hamilton Fire. Going to work. Structure fire and a high-rise fire side-by-side. pic.twitter.com/pxRIKTPeux
— HighRiseFirefighting (@HighRiseUnit) June 18, 2022
More than 40 firefighters were on scene at the height of the blaze. Fire officials have employed the use of a heat-seeking drone to help with the firefighting efforts.
“Our drone has been very instrumental in helping the incident commander to see through the thermal imaging where the fire is and where the fire travel is and that’s what has allowed us to set up our aerial units in the position to get at this fire,” explained Cunliffe.
Officials say they expect to be on scene for most of the day and likely well into the evening.
The cause of the blaze has yet to be determined and due to the financial damage suffered, the Office of the Fire Marshal has been called in to investigate along with Hamilton police.
