Twenty people have been displaced by an early morning fire at a rooming house in downtown Amherst, N.S.
The Canadian Red Cross said the fire “heavily damaged” an old three-storey rooming house on Prince Arthur Street. It was reported just after 4 a.m. Monday morning.
“Canadian Red Cross volunteers are assisting 16 adults with emergency lodging and purchases of food, clothing and some other basics,” a release from the organization said.
“The other four tenants were either not home at the time or left the scene before Red Cross volunteers could speak with them but will be offered similar help if needed.”
There were no injuries in the fire.
Dan Bedell, the Atlantic spokesperson from the Canadian Red Cross, said he doesn’t believe the tenants will be able to return to the building because of the extent of the damage.
He said the Red Cross will assist the tenants over the next couple of days and will help connect them to resources.
A release from the Town of Amherst said when firefighters arrived on scene Monday morning, there was smoke coming out of two back doors that led to the basement of the rooming house. They ran lines in through both doors and fought the fire within the building.
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The release said the fire was mostly confined to the basement, though it did creep up the walls.
Amherst Fire Chief Greg Jones said about 46 firefighters responded to the fire and it took about 45 minutes to put it out.
He couldn’t speak to the extent of the fire damage because the matter is under investigation. He also couldn’t speak to potential causes for the fire or whether it appeared suspicious.
“At this point, until I do my investigation, I can’t determine that,” he said.
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