Police/Fire investigation underway for Downtown Fire overnight

Officials in Prince Rupert have provided some further
notes on the overnight fire on Second Avenue West

A pair of information releases this afternoon provide some further background towards the large fire downtown on Monday evening, a blaze which saw three businesses consumed by the incident and  left 15 residents of the apartments above now homeless.

In a statement from the Prince Rupert RCMP, the local detachment notes that the cause remains unknown and both the RCMP and the Prince Rupert Fire Department are continuing with the investigation to determine the cause. 

If you have any information about this, contact the Prince Rupert RCMP at (250) 627-0700 or Crime Stoppers at 1(800) 222-8477.

Prince Rupert Fire has also provided some further details to Northwest media on the fire of Monday night/Tuesday morning, with reports indicating that up to fourteen fire fighters were on the scene at the fire's most raging moments.

"Prince Rupert Fire Rescue was dispatched to a possible structure fire in the rear of 659 2nd Ave. west at 9:20 p.m.. Upon arrival, first arriving fire crews could see pressurized smoke coming from the 1st and second floor and fire coming from the rear door of the structure. 

The building is classified as mixed occupancy having a business on the first floor and apartments on the second. Crews had one unaccounted for resident and rescued the occupant from the second floor by using a ladder. That occupant was transported to hospital for further observation.

The firefighters then proceeded to fight the fire from the inside but due to the buildings age, construction and void spaces the fire progressed rapidly. Firefighters withdrew from the building and began fighting the fire from the outside. Due to close proximity of row businesses, heavy equipment was called in to knockdown the building and create a fire beak." 

That decision was made by those at the site of the fire, with the demolition work used to stop the spread of any potential further fire to the rest of the downtown block.

The on site work continues in the downtown area this afternoon with the rubble from the three structures destroyed being carted off.

For more notes on the work of emergency responders in the Northwest see our archive page here.