Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and that proved to be the case when firefighters arrived at the former Travellers Lodge building this afternoon.
Fire crews responded to a commercial building alarm in the structure shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday, June 1, and found smoke in the unoccupied former seniors’ care home when they arrived.
“We have smoke damage in a portion of the building,” said Stu Kenning, Nanaimo Fire Rescue assistant chief of operations. “We only used a small amount of water to put it out. We had four engines on scene.”
B.C. Ambulance and Nanaimo RCMP also attended the scene.
Kenning said because of the structure’s size, it took some time for firefighters to search the premises and make sure no one was living or squatting in the building. He did not know the cause of the fire, but said someone had broken into the structure.
“The fire’s extinguished and it’s under investigation at this time,” Kenning said. “The doors were forced open to get in and that’s all we know at this time.”
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chris.bush@nanaimobulletin.com
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