No injuries reported after early morning fire on Fredericton’s north side

The roof of a Fredericton apartment building caught on fire Wednesday morning.

All residents of a four-storey apartment building on Fredericton’s north side were safely evacuated after an overnight fire engulfed the roof of their complex.

The call came in shortly after 2 a.m. for a structure fire on Bowlen Street.

According to the Fredericton Firefighters’ Association, Fredericton Police officers spotted the fire while on patrol. They activated the building’s fire alarm before firefighters arrived.

No injuries have been reported. Fredericton fire officials do not know how many people have been displaced but told reporters the building is unsafe for residents to return.

“It rapidly advanced into the attic of the structure and knowing that type of construction - a very common construction pretty much everywhere in North America - once the fire gets a hold of the attic, it’s pretty much deemed unsafe for us to have crews in there,” said Craig Harnum, assistant deputy chief. “Our initial battle plan would have been to get in there with our high-rise kits, get water on that fire as quick as we can. We were in the process of doing that when everything sort of went downhill quickly for us.”

Once the fire was in the attic, Harnum said they had to move to a defensive approach and evacuate any firefighters working inside the building. They continued to battle the fire from outside.

Additional ladder trucks were provided by Oromocto Fire and CFB Gagetown to assist.

Harnum said at one point, they were discharging 5,500 gallons of water onto the structure, every minute.

Crews remained on scene Wednesday to combat hotspots. Harnum said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

106^th mid-rise fire in North America, say fire officials

After the fire, Brent Brooks, Fredericton Fire’s Assistant Deputy Chief of Hazmat, Training, and Logistics, made a call to fire safety expert in the United States, Jack Murphy.

Brooks said they believe this is the 106^th mid-rise building in North America that’s had a similar fire.

“As first responders we’re generally the first ones to find problems with these buildings,” Brooks said. “Now we are starting to see a pattern. So now it’s time for us to share that information to the engineer, the designers… and figure out why this is happening or how to prevent this from happening and then bring it forward to make changes.”

He said he would consider 100 fires of a similar nature, a pattern.

Brooks, who spent 30 years with the Toronto Fire Service, said all agencies worked together to combat the fire and help the residents affected.

“This is my third day here and to see the firefighters and the first responders, police and even hydro working together to get everyone evacuated. It was very impressive,” he said.

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