On Queen Street between Bathurst and Portland a fire broke out in the small hours of the morning in a shop unit. By the time most people were leaving for work the fire had spread to fourteen separate buildings and had turned into what they call a six alarm fire. Fires over here are rated on a scale which determines what units are deployed to deal with it. It starts at one and only goes to seven. According to reports at its height it involved 30 firetrucks, fire helicopters, dozens of police cars and over 150 members of the fire department. By the end of the day most of the city block had been affected by the fire, some buildings had just collapsed and several others are likely to have to be demolished.
Due to the cold the firefighters visors were freezing up with the spray, icicles were hanging from the hoses, the area around had turned into a skating rink and rescue ladders were frozen solid to the walls. The city had closed off the area for three blocks around. Streetcars were being diverted down any other road that could take them which resulted in my route to work, along King Street, becoming rather congested especially since Queen Street is the major east-west artery in the centre of the city.
The affected buildings were mainly three and four storey structures which included both businesses and apartments in an area just designated of great historical value. The oldest building destroyed was 150 years old, which in North America is very old. Many of the businesses were family businesses one of which had been operating in the same location for 90 years and been owned and staffed by four generations of the same family who also lived above the shop. Theirs was the building that completely collapsed despite the fact the fire started four doors down.
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