WESTLOCK – Two people were sent to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation as one of Westlock’s iconic downtown brick buildings, the 76-year-old Commerce Building, was gutted by an early-morning Jan. 31 fire.
Town of Westlock fire chief Stuart Koflick said they were called to the scene of the blaze at 100 Avenue (Main Street) and 10516 Street at around 1:15 a.m. Sunday. According to the 80 Years of Progress history book, the Commerce Building was originally known as the Clinic Building and was built by Dr. Georges L. Whissell in 1945.
“We responded with two engines and requested backup from both Pickardville and Busby and they arrived with an engine each, as well as a tower (truck) from Barrhead due to the size of the structure and the potential for it to escalate,” said Koflick around 11:30 a.m. as the temperature hovered around -20 C and firefighters continued to douse hot spots in the two-storey brick structure.
“When we arrived flames were showing from the south of the building from one of the suites. We made an interior attack to try and locate the scene of the fire. We performed interior fire suppression operations until such time that the structure was deemed unsafe to be inside. For the remainder of the fire suppression activities we used the water tower and the hand lines from the outside.”
Inside the building, which has a mix of apartments and commercial, Koflick said they were able to get all the residents out safely, although two were sent to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.
“I believe four or five suites were occupied, as far as I know. All the occupants that were known to be in the building have been accounted for, so they’re all out. Two occupants were taken to hospital with smoke inhalation injuries, but I’m not sure of their status right now,” said the chief.
The majority of the damage to the building is on the south eastern side — the roof has collapsed on parts of the structure, while Koflick said the floors have been ravaged. Just before noon a fire investigator was on scene and began looking into the cause of the blaze.
With all the water that’s been pumped onto the fire, Main Street is a mess of water and ice — a news release from the town Sunday morning asked residents to stay clear of the area as crews were working to clear the runoff along 106 Street.
“We’ve flowed a lot of water, so we’ve caused a lot of snow and ice to accumulate in the downtown areas. So our next steps are to initiate the investigation, put out the hot spots and when we can, we’ll open up the street,” he said.
“Public works has been on site trying to maintain some decent water flow to the catch basins and provide some street sweeping and sanding. We’ve got quite a bit of work here left to do here.”
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