Halifax apartment building extensively damaged by fire
Nineteen people are out of their homes following a fire at an apartment building on Windsor Street in Halifax on Saturday evening.
No one was injured but the front of the building was extensively damaged and other parts of the building were damaged by smoke and water.
Crews were called to the 12-unit building at 3675 Windsor St. near Connaught Avenue just after 8 p.m.
Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency's acting division commander Pat Kline said the whole front of the building was engulfed in flames before crews arrived.
'Visibile from miles away'
"It was visible from miles away, the smoke. ... When they got the call they could see the smoke on the horizon as they came across the bridge," Kline said.
"The whole outside of the house was on fire. If you looked straight at the house, all you saw was flames. If you were on an angle, you could tell where the house was, but the one whole side — we call it the alpha side, the front — was fully involved with the fire."
Six fire trucks and 20 firefighters fought the blaze, which had crept up from a lower level of the wood-frame structure to the third storey and onto the roof. Kline said the fire was knocked down fairly quickly.
No one injured
Firefighters rescued two cats from the building.
The Canadian Red Cross arranged emergency lodging for seven of the residents, while the other 12 stayed with family or friends on Saturday night. The aid agency helped all 19 residents with emergency purchases such as food, clothing and personal care items.
Cleanup and repair for the less-damaged apartments will likely take several days, the Canadian Red Cross said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
