Fire

My previous neighourhood here in Ottawa was Chinatown, which is on the west side of Bronson Ave. (I'm now a few blocks east of there). That area unfortunately has seen more than its fair share of fires over the years, and this past week saw three of them. Fortunately, no loss of human life reported in any of these, though I don't know the status of any pets.

The first one was last Sunday. As the weekly HPVOoO dinner was ending and we were all coming out onto the street we noticed fire coming from a dumpster behind the pizza shop at Somerset and Bronson. Fire trucks were already on their way, and things were quickly dealt with.

Then on Monday night, a derelict house caught fire a block from there. From the Ottawa Citizen: "A fire that tore through a two story duplex at 164 Cambridge at 9 p.m. Monday night is still under investigation. The fire started in an abandoned structure that was home to vagrants, said district chief Monty Malloy. The fire was under control just before 10 p.m. No one was hurt during the blaze, but the structure was totally destroyed, with damage estimated at $100,000.".

And then in the wee hours of Thursday morning the buildings at the NW corner of Somerset and Booth were ablaze in what seems to so far be the worst fire of the year, and arson is suspected. "A total of 30 apartments in the century-old buildings and five street-level businesses, including a pizzeria, pool hall and Asian and Caribbean grocery stores, were destroyed."

You can read CBC articles on this fire here and here.

I went and had a look yesterday afternoon and took some photos, as demolition was taking place and firefighters continued to hose down the remains. It was a sad sight...

From the southeast corner of Somerset and Booth.

On Somerset looking northeast, halfway between Booth and Rochester.

Booth St. just north of Somerset looking west.

Booth St. just north of Somerset, looking west behind the row of buildings

UPDATE: Lots more photos at the Ottawa Firefighters website.