Nearly 30 residents were displaced from their homes Thursday night after a major fire tore through the former Ottawa Hotel, effectively destroying the century-old heritage building in the Montérégie region.

The hotel in Sainte-Hyacinthe, Que., built in 1903, had been converted into a residential building, housing businesses on the ground floor and apartments on the upper levels.

Police say the fire broke out around 11 p.m., in the basement of the building and quickly spread to the other three floors.

More than 100 firefighters responded to the scene, not only from the city, but from neighbouring municipalities including Granby, Saint-Dominique, Saint-Pie, Saint-Valérien-de-Milton and Saint-Liboire.

No one was injured.

A night shift employee who was thought to be at work at the time of the fire has been located and is safe.

Destruction of the remainder of the unstable building began Friday morning. The cause of the fire is not yet known