Brantford firefighters are being lauded for containing an early Sunday morning fire that gutted an old building on Grand River Avenue and Jarvis Street.
Michael Brown said firefighters did an amazing job in preventing the blaze ata commercial building 61 Grand River Ave. from spreading to the house next door at 59 Grand River Ave.
“I can’t say enough or thank them enough for what they did,” Brown said. “They got there quickly and put the focus on the wall next to the house to prevent the fire from spreading.
“There may be a bit of water damage to the house but not any fire damage.”
Brown was one of several people in the home at the time of the fire. The people in the home included a nursing mother with a newborn, another child, her fiance, another woman and a dog.
Brown said people in the home were woken up by a lot of screaming and yelling coming from the commercial building. A group of people, possibly teens by the sounds of their voices, ran out of the building and away from the area, he said.
After a look outside, those in the home became aware of smoke coming from the building.
A couple of minutes later, a firefighter knocked on the door and told them the building next door was on fire and they needed to leave right away.
At that time, smoke was starting to come into the house.
“We got out just in time because the smoke was really becoming quite thick,” Brown said. “We could see the firefighters soaking the wall of the building closest to the house.
“They saved that house, 100 per cent they did.”
Brown said he took a lot of photos and video of the firefighters battling the blaze. An image of a firefighter sitting all alone and pouring water on the fire is one he will remember for a long time.
Brown said everyone in the home gathered what they could and went to a relative’s house for the day.
Deputy Fire Chief Dwayne Armstrong said firefighters received the call at about 2:30 a.m. The building has been at the location for many years.
Although the building was described as being vacant by some people in the neighbourhood it wasn’t immediately clear if the building was being used for anything.
Armstrong said firefighters were expecting to remain on scene for most of the day.
Shirla Marlatt, who lives on Grand River Avenue, noticed the fire at about 3 a.m. when she got up to go the bathroom.
“I saw some flashing lights and went outside and I could see all these fire trucks and smoke coming out of the building,” Marlatt said. “We’ve been without power since about 3:45 a.m.
“It has been a pretty crazy night.”
At one point there were a lot of flames coming out of the building, she said.
Marlatt described the building as a vacant eyesore and said it’s unknown what’s in it.
Her brother Andrew said someone had recently broken into the building looking to steal copper.
Andrew and Shirla appeared to be in good spirits despite the ordeal and said they had people who could provide them with shelter if needed.
In addition to the cold, Andrew said his biggest issue was the lack of power.
“I couldn’t even make my morning coffee,” he said. “I always make my own coffee and this morning I couldn’t do it.”
Firefighters surrounded the building and poured water on it from all angles. Aerial ladders were also used and several streets were blocked off.
At one point early Sunday morning, GrandBridge Energy was reporting 2,700 customers without power. By about 10:45 a.m., the company was reporting on social media that the number of customers affected had been reduced to 165.
By Sunday afternoon, GrandBridge was reporting that all power had been restored.