Clouds of smoke filled the air above the city as flames shot from the Traveller’s Inn building at 760 Queens Ave.
No injuries were reported after a fire engulfed a former hotel near the Bay Street Armoury just before 4 a.m. on Saturday and burned for much of the day.
Clouds of smoke filled the air over the northern edge of downtown Victoria as flames shot from the former Traveller’s Inn at 760 Queens Ave.
Deputy Fire Chief Ajay LeBlanc, speaking to the media in front of the building at 10:30 a.m., said crews had to pull out from the building and switch to defensive operations from the outside due to the heavy heat and fire conditions.
He said the 85-suite former hotel was mostly vacant with six units occupied, but crews did not find anyone when they entered the building.
LeBlanc did not comment on the nature of the housing situation or whether those living in the six units were renters.
Emergency support services were dispatched to the scene to support evacuees, including three families from a neighbouring building on Field Street that suffered water damage.
LeBlanc said the fire is suspected to have started inside the building, but noted it’s too early to determine the cause.
B.C. Hydro cut power to the area and fire crews have been working with FortisBC to manage gas flow.
“It’s an all-hands-on-deck kind of incident,” LeBlanc said.
Crews from fire departments in Saanich and Esquimalt helped at the scene, with the Oak Bay department on standby, LeBlanc said.
Blanshard Street southbound from Bay Street to Princess Avenue was closed, along with Blanshard Street northbound from Bay Street to Pembroke Street.
North and southbound lanes on Douglas Street from Bay Street to Princess Avenue were also closed. Police asked people to avoid the area and use alternate routes.
A small crowd gathered near the scene to film the blaze as police taped off the area and asked people to step back.
Bianca Radelfinger lives nearby and came to watch when she saw smoke in the sky.
“I hope no one was hurt,” she said, watching from the grassy median on Blanshard Street as crews tackled the blaze. “To see it up close is very different than in pictures.”
Dawn Turner said she came because her daughter lives in the apartment behind the hotel.
She woke up to a message from her daughter at 4 a.m. saying that they had been evacuated and smelled smoke in the air.
LeBlanc stressed that people should not watch the fire from up close out of concern for their safety and that of the crews.
He said he is aware of a building owner but has not spoken with them about the fire. He said the fire department had previously done inspections to make sure the building was kept up to standards.
A fire broke out at the building in 2016, leaving about 57 tenants without accommodation. That fire was deliberately set in a truck under a carport at the hotel and travelled through a light-fixture opening to void spaces, including a chimney and elevator shaft.
In 2013, the B.C. Supreme Court ordered the sale of the building and two other properties after a lender foreclosed on owner Robin Kimpton.
A Facebook account with the same name posted a message in a Victoria rental group earlier this month. It offered “short term stays at 760 Queens.”