Smoke continues to rise from the Victoria Plaza Hotel, that was engulfed in flames Monday.
Victoria firefighters continue to douse flames that remain visible at the Victoria Plaza downtown, more than 24 hours after it was gutted by a blaze Monday.
The fire started in the early morning hours and continued to rage for much of the day, and it wasn’t until after 9 p.m. when the City of Victoria said all major hot spots were put out.
Firefighters remained at the scene overnight to monitor the situation and ensure active fires did not flare up again.
Victoria City Hall remains closed Tuesday because of poor air quality from the heavy smoke that came from the building located on the corner of Pandora Avenue and Government Street.
Fire Update: More than 26 hours later, VIctoria Plaza Hotel fire is still smoldering. Flames still visible and they’re pumping water on it. Government is closed from Pandora to Johnson. Pandora’s shutdown btwn Douglas & Gov’t. More @CHEK_News
@CityOfVictoria #yyj pic.twitter.com/RJkemKmMNI— Tess van Straaten (@tessvanstraaten) May 7, 2019
Just after 10 a.m., Pandora Avenue was reopened west of Douglas Street, and Government Street is open from Pandora to FisgarD.
The city says drivers can turn right from Government Street onto Pandora, but Government is still closed from Johnson Street to Pandora until further notice.
UPDATE: Pandora Ave is now open. Government St from Pandora to Fisgard is open. Cars can turn right from Government onto Pandora. Government between Johnson & Pandora remains closed till further notice. Please use alternate routes. City Hall remains closed #yyj #yyjtraffic
— City of Victoria (@CityOfVictoria) May 7, 2019
3/3 Due to poor air quality City Hall will be closed for business tomorrow. Visit https://t.co/zzGGLiGc12 for online services #yyjfire
— City of Victoria (@CityOfVictoria) May 7, 2019
The fire collapsed the roof of the smaller building, which used to be a restaurant and is attached to the larger building of the hotel. The southwest facing wall also collapsed.
Fire Chief Paul Bruce said as of Tuesday, they are concentrating on getting the fire out and are not able to determine the cause at this time. They are also not able to determine wehther the fire is suspicious or not.
Firefighers are working to preserve as much of the entire block as they can as it does have heritage designation but they don’t know if the building is salvageable. An engineer will have to conduct an assessment.
But Victoria Fire Battalion Chief Doug Carey said Monday night although the building is a complete loss, engineers that came at the request of the city believe the facade can be saved for any future development on the site.
Victoria police said they are still looking to speak to Mike Draeger, who is the caretaker of the Plaza Hotel.
Anyone who knows how to contact him is asked to call VicPD at 250-995-7654.
The original structure of the building was built in 1910 and became the Century Inn from 1965 until 1986.
It was the Plaza Hotel until 2012, including nightspots such as Monty’s Pub and Monty’s exotic showroom.
The building was sold in 2016 for $5.2 million with plans to build residential units submitted in 2017.
The interior of the former Plaza Hotel in downtown Victoria is completely gutted, but VicFD told @CHEK_News news late Monday that city engineers believe the facade of the heritage building can be saved for any future development on the site #yyj #yyjfire pic.twitter.com/w3yF6CL4pM
— Ben O'Hara-Byrne (@Ben_oharabyrne) May 7, 2019
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