On July 7th, shortly after 10PM, Kentville Firefighters were dispatched to a report of a possible structure fire in downtown Kentville.
Initial reports had indicated a neighbour across the street called 911 as they saw a glow between two buildings.
Automatic mutual aid was dispatched, bringing New Minas, Waterville & Port Williams fire departments to the scene.
“I had arrived to fire in an alleyway between two buildings. They were very close to one another and both buildings were burning on the exterior. It had already reached the roof of the main fire building.” Stated Kentville Deputy Chief, Ian Fairclough.
Firefighters dealt with a heavy fire load from the exterior of both commercial structures along with fire coming from the roof of the main building involved. Crews immediately started an aggressive exterior attack to prevent extension.
On arrival, ground crews deployed hose-lines to extinguish fire from the exterior between two buildings and made entry. Crews also deployed Kentville’s ladder truck and hit the bulk of the fire from the roof with their master stream.
Fairclough shared that initially there were reports that one of the buildings may have had apartments. Firefighters worked to clear the rooms to ensure there wasn’t anyone inside. It was later determined there were no apartments involved.
Due to the nature of the incident and two large commercial buildings being involved, more fire apparatus were requested. An additional aerial device from New Minas and more crews were brought in from Greenwich & Canning fire departments.
There were a total of three aerial devices deployed, with New Minas and Waterville in place for protection in case there was any extension to the Armoury property. Kentvilles ladder working active fire from the main fire building, Skylit.
Neighbouring apartment buildings were evacuated by Kentville Police Service as a precautionary measure while fire crews worked to contain the blaze.
Firefighters spent some time on scene working to put out hot spots and check for further extension.
“There was extensive damage in the attic space of the primary building. There was no significant fire damage within the building itself, but it burned the roof off and burned into the roof of the exposure building, creating smoke damage along with some water damage.” Shared DC Fairclough.
Downtown Kentville was shut down to traffic during the incident and, thankfully, there were no reported injuries as a result of the fire.
Berwick & District Firefighters provided standby coverage at the Kentville fire station during the call and EHS Paramedics, Kentville Police Service and Nova Scotia Power all assisted on scene.
The fire is currently being investigated by the Nova Scotia Office of the Fire Marshal and the Kentville Police Service.
Firefighters responded quickly, working alongside mutual aid partners to prevent any further damage to additional properties involved.
These fire departments in our communities are staffed by volunteer firefighters. If it wasn’t for their heroic actions and speedy response, this incident could have been much worse.
Great work by all firefighters and agencies involved!
Adrian J.
