Halifax fire remain on scene of blaze at CN Rail commercial building

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency crews remain at the scene of a blaze at the CN Rail yard commercial building in the city’s west end.

Crews were called to the blaze at the end of Chisholm Avenue around 5 p.m. 

Upon arrival, firefighters found the entire structure engulfed in flames. Crews were fighting the fire from outside CN warehouse throughout the evening.

Firefighters on the ground were seen spraying the fire down with a hose, while a pair of aerial pumpers worked overhead.

HRFE district fire chief Mike Blackburn said the building has been sitting empty for a few years. He said their major concern was a diesel fuel filling station located at the backside of the building that’s still in operation and contained a significant amount of fuel.

“There is a fuel tank which is on the charlie side or backside as we call it with 40,000 litres of diesel fuel which is used for the engines and still in use,” said Blackburn.

“Right now it’s still a concern, that’s about the only exposure that we’re concerned about at this time. We’ve got lines deployed and ready should the fire advance down that end of the building but our hope is to try and stop it before it gets that far.”

Witnesses at the scene said smoke could be seen from their home in Fairview.

The 300 block of the road remains blocked off to traffic as crews continue to work towards extinguishing the blaze.

The cause of the fire currently remains unclear.

Firefighters at the scene said they were not aware of any injuries, as the warehouse was empty and no longer in use.