Downtown Halifax construction fire sends heavy black smoke billowing

A fire at an apartment building under construction sent thick black smoke rolling through parts of downtown Halifax on Wednesday afternoon.

Fire crews were called at around 1:30 p.m. to the structure at the corner of Cogswell and Gottingen streets.

“As crews were responding to the scene, we encountered heavy black smoke coming from the side of the building under construction. Crews confirmed that we actually had a fire in the exterior of the building that they quickly went to work stretching lines to put out the fire,” said District Chief Brad Connors with Halifax Fire.

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Connors said firefighters had to help some construction workers get out of the building, but there were no injuries reported.

“No injuries of any of the construction workers and no injury of fire (crews). We did rescue a few people initially, but nobody needed medical attention,” he added.

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He said the fire was put out quickly and he doesn’t believe the damage is too severe.

“I haven’t received any reports that (fire) got inside the building, and therefore I think the integrity of the building is still sound,” said Connors.