Fire officials continue to put out hot spots from a persistent blaze that damaged several buildings on King Street in downtown Bridgewater, N.S.
The fire broke out Sunday around 10:30 p.m. Since then, crews have been working to contain multiple flare-ups at the site.
“These are stubborn fires,” said Chief Michael Nauss, Bridgewater Fire Department.
“It’s a very old building and lots of rotten wood and everything in there and it takes time.”
READ: Crews spend 12+ hours battling blaze after fire sweeps through downtown Bridgewater
Nauss says it still isn’t safe for firefighters to go inside the building at this time. The fire department had to bring in some heavy equipment to knock down some of the walls in order to get at the hot spots.
While working to get the fire under control overnight Sunday, Nauss says firefighters made sure to keep a close eye on a number of propane tanks nearby.
“When we were fighting the fire we did keep one line over those to keep them cool just to make sure they didn’t overheat and blast off,” he said.
Nauss says the age of the building and the style in which it was built posed some challenges for volunteer firefighters.
“It’s an old-style building with balloon framing,” he said.
“The fire would follow in, through lots of different openings. Today’s standards, there’s lots of fire stops in the walls so the fires don’t spread as quickly or go all over the place. With the old-style buildings, that’s what happens, it will start and corner and show up in another corner.”
WATCH: Fire destroys businesses, apartments in downtown Bridgewater, N.S.
The full extent of the damage is not yet known. The fire appears to have affected three separate buildings, which were home to both businesses and apartments.
George Crews lived in an apartment above the Rogers store at 533 King St. for two years. He was away for the weekend when the fire broke out, only arriving Tuesday morning to survey the damage.
“It looks pretty well scrap wood to me now,” Crews said of the building he used to call home.
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Due to safety concerns, Crews was not allowed to enter the building to see if any of his belongings made it through the fire, specifically an antique chair he was restoring.
“I can only assume what’s damaged and what’s not,” he said. “My biggest worry right now, I’ve got a chair in there older than me so hope it’s not too wet.”
Despite losing his apartment and most likely all of his belongings in the fire, Crews was in good spirits, saying things could have been much worse.
“Right now I have a place I can stay, but otherwise [I’ll] start all over,” he told Global News.
The Canadian Red Cross says they are helping one tenant who lived at 541 King St. with the emergency purchase of clothing, food and personal-care items.
At this time, the cause of the fire remains under a joint investigation — with police, the fire marshal’s office and the Bridgewater Fire Department all looking into the matter.
So far, investigators have not been able to actually enter any of the buildings.
“We need to investigate all avenues,” said Const. James Creaser, Bridgewater Police Service.
“Whether it is or is not suspicious, we are not sure at this point just due to fact it is still unsafe to go inside.”
Police are asking for the public’s help in the case. “At this point, any information that could be gained from the public would be greatly appreciated,” said Creaser.
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