Watch above: raw video from the massive fire in downtown Moose Jaw
MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Several businesses and apartments in a block in downtown Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan have been extensively damaged by fire.
The blaze broke out around 10:00 p.m. Wednesday on High Street West and reached its peak about four hours later.
Fire officials were concerned with the structural integrity of the buildings while battling the blaze.
“Certainly we are worried about the structural stability as some of that wood structure starts to burn out” said deputy fire chief Brian Wilson of the Moose Jaw Fire Dept.
“They have large, heavy, timber beams that allows for lots of void spaces. So the fire can get into the wall structure and into the floor structure and is difficult to fight.”
Fire crews took a defensive approach to fighting the fire and uses tower and aerial approached to lob water on the burning buildings.
Corp. Trish Semans with the Moose Jaw police says the building was nearly all in flames by the time emergency crews arrived and the fire seemed to get bigger as time went on.
Everyone in the apartments above the businesses got to safety and there were no injuries.
The Salvation Army say they have 22 people registered with them for assistance.
Firefighters will be bring in a track hoe to start pulling the building apart to get to the hot spots still inside.
The cause of the fire isn’t known, but it’s believed to have started above a restaurant.
With files from The Canadian Press
Watch below: Kahla Buchanan’s lives on the Morning News about the fire that broke out late last night in downtown Moose Jaw.
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