one person dead after devastating fire in downtown bridgewater
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two firefighters look on as crews battle a structure fire in downtown bridgewater on wednesday.
josh healey
/
chronicle herald
one person is dead after a major downtown fire in bridgewater on wednesday.
a noon structure fire on king street spread to a neighbouring building, necessitating help from multiple crews from across the province. roughly 60 firefighters worked until 11:07 p.m. to get it under control.
at that point, investigators from the bridgewater police service (bps) and the bridgewater fire department (bfd) confirmed one deceased person was found at the scene.
a statement from the police said, “based on the current evidence and circumstances investigators believe the deceased is the unaccounted-for resident. police cannot release further details until they are positively identified, and family is appropriately notified. bfd and fire partners are diligently working on any remaining risks.”
a followup release from the police thursday morning declared the fire “cleared” and advised that “investigation is underway at the scene and the streets will remain closed until it’s complete.”
“moments like this test our community,” the bridgewater police said in a statement. “our sincere condolences are offered to family, friends, and the greater community. please support all involved, and avoid speculation until all the facts are known.
danny macphee, bps deputy chief, said he’s never dealt with a fire quite like this one in nearly three decades with the force.
“i’ve been actively with us for 27 years and i’ve never seen a fire this intense and engulfed so fast,” macphee said. “it was overwhelming how hot it was immediately. we were there with our responding officers within a minute of noticing the smoke and receiving the 911 call. our officers noticed the smoke at the same time the call came in and it was already fully engulfed.
“nobody would have been able to get in that building safely and make it out alive. it was a very intense blaze.”
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because it’s still early in the investigation, macphee said, they don’t yet know how the fire started but preliminary scans didn’t show any overt signs of arson.
“at this stage there still isn’t (any arson suspicion), but we treat every fire as suspicious until a cause is determined,” he said. “whenever there’s a structure fire, or any fire with significant injuries or death like we’re dealing with here, the office of the fire marshal and our investigator check to make sure that there is no criminality or anything suspicious.”
a lunenburg & district fire and rescue boat sits on the river among the smoke from a nearby fire on wednesday.
josh healey
/
chronicle herald
macphee said continuing assistance and victim support will be available from all relevant community services, including the red cross.
he also said the fire has many area residents shaken up.
“our community is so strong,” he said. “i’ve been here for a long time and we’ve gone through a lot of tough moments. and our volunteer firefighters are all community members, our police officers are all community members and our ehs attendants are mostly community members, so we’re affected by this all the time. we know each other well, we know the places we’re going to well, we know the area well, we know the victims of these things well, so it does get tough.
“but this community is very strong, and the amount of businesses and residents that were dropping off crates of water and food, and just making sure that everybody was taken care of was amazing. so there was a lot of aid and community support.”
bridgewater mayor david mitchell offered some heartfelt words in a facebook post wednesday night.
bridgewater mayor david mitchell.
tim krochak
/
chronicle herald
“today is a difficult day, but i wanted to give an update on the devastating fire on king street,” he wrote. “right now, i’m afraid to say one person is deceased. i’m not sure how to adequately express our collective sympathy to the loved ones of this person, but please join me as a community in keeping your thoughts and prayers with their friends and family.
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“the fire department and police service will work with those impacted and who have lost their home to find temporary shelter. the red cross will be onsite at town hall until 7 p.m. tonight as well.
“king street will be closed in that area until further notice as fire and police work to secure the scene and do their investigations. on behalf of all of us, i want to thank our first responders for their hard work and tremendous dedication to this community. days like today are difficult and exhausting and these men and women are impacted greatly by the tragedy and loss. please keep them in your thoughts as well.
“i went to the site to thank first responders on behalf of the town and it was overwhelming to see so many firefighters from so many different departments. up to 15 departments were on site or activated to cover for others and we are beyond grateful for their help and support. they are exhausted and yet they are determined. this is bravery exemplified! i want to also thank the local businesses who have delivered food and water. thank you, thank you, thank you to all those working this site.
“quick sidenote: i’ve seen a number of comments about the fire department and volunteer vs. paid services. today is not the day to dive into this. but i will say the fire chief was on scene within one minute of the 911 call. police were also on scene within one minute and the very old wooden structure was immediately fully engulfed.
“when things like this happen, i know it’s easy to just say, ‘this is what needs to happen’ but i think we can all agree that it is through the expertise and experience of our bridgewater fire department chief and deputies that we make any decisions on our fire services. indeed, these types of conversations happen regularly and events like the 2017 king street fire and the one today absolutely shape those conversations. i would ask that we let bfd and bps do their work, gather all the information and make any recommendations they need to.
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“today we are focused on ensuring the fire is out, finding shelter for those displaced and being there for those who were worried about their friend and loved one, and now with the update from police tonight, are mourning this loss. please continue to avoid the impacted area and i ask that you not share names, share misinformation or speculate about things out of respect for the people who lost everything today.”
macphee also addressed the reports of criticism around the response time from the fire department.
“the response was amazing,” he said. “the co-ordination between all the fire services that did attend – they have a strong mutual aid package with all the fire services in this region – was very, very impressive to watch. it did jump the one building and was hitting the power lines, so we were having some issues. there was a fair amount of people on the sidewalk, kind of sprinkling into the roadway videotaping but not helping, not assisting, just in the way and not calling 911 to give us information. it’s sad to say but it is the new normal that we run into now.
“but it was very intense when it did jump the building. there was a lot of work to make sure it didn’t expand anywhere else because you don’t want to lose control of the fire. the fire service did a fantastic job keeping everyone else safe and fighting that as quickly as they could.”
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