Fire investigators will go through the rubble of burned out buildings on Columbia Street brick by brick if that’s what is needed to determine a cause of last week’s devastating fire.
Deputy fire chief John Hatch said the cause of the fire hasn’t yet been determined.
“You can see the building is pretty much gone so now we have to (use) some other means,” Hatch said. “Then we will go through brick by brick to see if there is anything in there that might have been suspicious.”
Witness accounts and footage from security cameras will be some of the tools used to assist in the investigation. Fire officials will work with the police department and investigators from insurance companies to determine the cause of the fire.
“The joint investigation into the fire scene involving New Westminster Police and New Westminster Fire continues,” said Blair Fryer, the city’s communications and economic development manager.
Two heritage buildings in the Columbia Street historic district were destroyed by fire.
“The site has been secured,” Fryer told The Record Tuesday afternoon. “It is under police watch as an investigation scene. It’s being guarded.”
New Westminster Fire and Rescue received a call about 3:45 a.m. on Oct. 10 about a structure fire on Columbia Street. Upon arrival, crews found “heavy smoke and flame” on the top floor of 638 Columbia St.
“We are uncertain at this time,” Hatch said about the cause. “We know we had heavy fire throughout the venting, leading either to or from the roof. We are not sure at this time.”
Within a short time, the Crescent Block (also known as the E.L. Lewis Block and the longtime home of Copp’s Shoes) collapsed. Fire crews focused their efforts on stopping the fire from spreading to the building next door, the Hamley Block.
“We went into the building next door and set up some fire lines and heavy ventilation to try and keep the flame spread limited to the building of origin,” Hatch said. “As you can see, we were partially successful with that.”
A portion of the Hamley Block that survived the fire was later ordered to be demolished.
“It is unsafe,” Fryer said. “The structure has been compromised to the extent that it needs to come down.”
Fire Chief Tim Armstrong said roof work had been done earlier in the day on the E.L. Lewis Block, and propane canisters on the roof exploded during the fire.
A man who was collecting bottles from garbage cans in the area heard two explosions and saw flames shooting 20 feet into the sky.
More than 45 New Westminster firefighters fought the blaze that lasted for several hours. With local firefighters busy at the fire, Burnaby Fire Department attended calls on the mainland, Richmond assisted with calls in Queensborough, and Delta supplied an aerial water tower.
One firefighter went to Royal Columbia Hospital but was released that same day.
