Victoria hotel fire: Caretaker remains unaccounted for as investigation continues

 

Victoria City Hall is fully open today for the first time since fire destroyed a vacant hotel on Monday, sending clouds of choking smoke over the city's downtown core.

A note on the city's website says city hall fully reopened this morning after it and several other nearby businesses were closed because of the potentially dangerous smoke.

The caretaker of the former Plaza Hotel has not been seen since flames broke out and officials want to speak to anyone who might know the whereabouts of Mike Draeger.

Only portions of the hotel's outer walls are still standing after the fire raged for hours on Monday. 

It flared again Tuesday and smouldered for days, preventing crews from actively searching the site for any sign of Draeger or a cause of the blaze.

 

. @VictoriaFire730 currently control the scene and are working to make it safe for the agencies that need access to the site. Fire investigators will work in the coming days to determine the origin and cause of the fire. More info here: https://t.co/hfj964eAU9

— Victoria Police (@vicpdcanada) May 9, 2019

UPDATE: The west sidewalk on Government Street, between Johnson and Pandora, is now open to pedestrians. Fire and Engineering crews continue their work at the site #yyj pic.twitter.com/lSwB8mQYG1

— City of Victoria (@CityOfVictoria) May 9, 2019

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  City crews survey the rubble of the Plaza Hotel in downtown Victoria Fri., May 10, 2019. (CTV Vancouver Island)

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  Walls crumbles as crews continued to deal with the aftermath of a destructive blaze at a downtown Victoria hotel Thurs., May 9, 2019. (CTV Vancouver Island)