Fire in Saint John's old north end deemed suspicious
A fire at a boarded-up house in Saint John's north end on Monday has been deemed suspicious by the Saint John Fire Department.
Platoon chief Barry Oickle said the fire broke out shortly before 12:30 a.m. at 131 Victoria St., between Elgin and Albert streets.
When firefighters arrived at the three-storey building, the fire was in the basement but worked its way up to the roof of the building, Oickle said.
"There's quite a bit of extensive damage," he said. "The roof has been burned through, the back corner of the wall has been separated."
Joe Armstrong, the deputy chief, said there's been a "fair amount" of fires in the old north end, where some buildings are empty.
"There's been a lot around Victoria, Metcalf Street. There's a lot of vacant homes in this area.
"There's been some turnover with some real estate property down here."
Armstrong said the department has a vacant property list and those structures are checked weekly to make sure no one is living in them.
The building will be evaluated to see if it needs to be torn down.
A firefighter at the scene was taken to hospital after slipping on a patch of ice. He quickly returned to help put out the fire.
"He's back on duty and everything is good," said Oickle.
