A fire heavily damaged a building that was being used as a storage facility in Nanaimo’s Old City Quarter Sunday night.
Nanaimo Fire Rescue got the call shortly to the building in the 300-block of Selby Street shortly after 5 p.m.
Capt. Chad Porter says crews were met with heavy smoke when they arrived at the commercial building.
“It wasn’t known to be occupied for the last few days. It was reported by the owners and occupants that they were last in the building on Friday,” said Porter.
The building was formerly used by Sidney Tire but it’s been most recently used as a storage facility by Pioneer Fireplaces.
“There was a lot of fire load in the building palettes, fireplaces cardboard material and stuff like that,” said Porter.
Porter said an attack crew was sent inside the building and were met with heavy fire conditions but they eventually saw a partial collapse of drywall materials and then had to retreat.
Firefighters then took defensive positions outside the building and sprayed water through windows and doors.
Porter believes while the building sustained extensive damage, crews were able to save it. He says there was no indication of a forced entry into the building when crews arrived to suggest the fire in the Old City Quarter was suspicious.
Pioneer Fireplace in Nanaimo is a dealer for Pacific Energy. In July of 2021, a fire at a business park just south of Duncan impacted Pacific Energys’ facility.
A Nanaimo firefighter sprays water into a commercial building on Selby Street Monday night
Numerous fire trucks responded to the commercial building fire on Selby Street in Nanaimo Monday night
Kendall Hanson
