A small fire in a heritage building was quickly controlled this morning.
Earlier this morning, New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services was called to a building on Carnarvon Street, where a fire was reported in a single unit on the Alexander Street side of the building.
As alarms rang inside the building, a small crew of firefighters were doing “overhaul” – checking to ensure that the fire was fully extinguished and had not spread into exterior walls.
Early reports suggest fire crews quickly extinguished the fire, after residents or passersby had attempted to put it out with an extinguisher.
The fire occurred in a 1908 building at 740 Carnarvon St., which is situated between Alexander and Begbie Streets. Originally called the Russell Hotel, it was later home to a nightclub and pub, before being purchased by BC Housing in 2008 and repurposing the upper floors of the hotel into long-term transition housing and creating office space in the building for local non-profits.
The Record has contacted the fire department and BC Housing for details.
More to come....
