Fire at old Empire Hotel

 
UPDATE October 13 2009

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I spoke with Sunil from Executive Security and he said that tenants will be allowed to go into the building today and tomorrow, but they must be escorted by the owner (Dave). If tenants want to go in they should contact Dave to arrange a time.

I have set up a page where you can donate money with credit card or paypal. All money will be given directly to the Salvation Army and is strictly for those affect by the fire. Follow this link to donate – Help those affected by fire

The Empire hotel was erected in 1947 and was once a popular motel.  It was eventualy converted to an apartment building and, until last night, housed close to 100 tenants in 52 rooms.

  

 I recently moved to Huntsville and have made a few friends. I got a call from a friend and co-worker of mine letting me know that she was outside her building and there was a bit of smoke. I thought no big deal, the fire department will put it out no problem, this was at 9:30 pm. An hour later I get a call from another co-worker stating that their are flames coming from the old Empire hotel. I grabbed my camera and hopped in my car.

This is what I saw when I arrived. The Huntsville fire department working hard to battle the flames coming from the room of the building.

 

I was amazed at how many firefighters were on scene, all of them working very hard to help battle the blaze. I later found out that almost all of the firefighters on scene were volunteers.

 A large crowd of people formed around the building. Many of the spectators are residents of the building. I was told by my friend who lives in the building that the fire alarm went off well in advance and everyone had enough time to get out of the building safely. It was over an hour before the flames began to show from the roof.

 Firefighters manned multiple hoses from every side of the building. I counted over ten hoses being used at once.

This fire truck had a ladder and hose extended in order to spray the fire that had caught on the roof. This hose was spraying for over two hours and still the flame continued to burn on the roof.

 Many fire trucks, ambulance, and police vehicles filled the streets.

 

 Even though it had only been a few hours since the fire had started the community was already reaching out. From the volunteer firefighters who were helping battle the blaze, to local residents bringing Tim Hortons to residents and the Salvation Army who kept a tally of who was staying in the building and worked hard to locate each tenant and provide them with shelter for the night (at a local motel)

The fire department worked relentlessly to fight the flames but the fire burnt on for hours. The photo below was taken at approximately 12:15 am. The fire had been burning for almost two hours and despite the fire departments best efforts showed no sign of slowing down.

 

It was suspected that the tar on the roof was on fire and that is why it was burning so strong.

 

 The photo below was taken at about 12:30 AM. You can see that so much water has been sprayed on the roof that the floors below are now flooding. You can see the water coming out of the windows.

 Around this time rumours began to spread that another fire truck was coming from Rama township to help fight the flames on the roof.

 The photo below was taken at approximately 12:45 am. According to fire fighters the hoses can spray 1000 gallons of water per minute. This hose has been going on the same spot since 10:30pm and the fire is still going. 1000 gallons a minute for over two hours, it is no surprise the building was flooding (as shown in previous photo)

 At this time the fire began to build. Some locals told me that there was a boiler room and elevator shaft on top of the room that was blocking the water from hitting some of the flames and this had now caught fire. You can see the growing orange glow in the three pictures below.

 

 

 In the picture below a new fire fighter is preparing to climb the ladder to take over and relieve another fire fighter

 

 At approximately 1:00 am the Rama fire department arrived with a much needed fire truck with an extendable ladder.

 This ladder helped get a more precise shot at the fire and cover more angles (as the boiler room was blocking some of the water from the other truck)

 I had just enough battery life for one last shot. I snapped this one from down the road and you can see the Huntsville fire truck with the ladder, the Rama ladder and multiple streams of water which are coming from the ground.

 

My room mate is a volunteer fire fighter and as of 4:30 am she is still not back. I talked to one of my friends and he said the fire fighters are still working at putting the fire out. He said the fire flickers a bit every now and then but it is almost out.

My prayers go out to all of the residents of this building and their families. Donations will be needed as there are 52 apartments in this building and all of their possessions may be lost due to this terrible event. Please donate clothing, food, or anything you think you do not need. Money will help a lot and I am sure there will be a lot of fundraisers following this event.

Update:

My roomate said she got back at 7:00am and the fire is out. They were allowed to enter the building and saved 3 kittens and a hamster! More news to come as I hear it. Feel free to post updates in the comments section. I am more than happy to add other pictures as well.  

 

Donations:

I spoke with a lady while at the fire from the Salvation Army. She said that the Salvation Army will be involved in accepting donations for the people affected by this fire. Her name was Lisa O’Doherty and she is from the Huntsville Corps located on 4 Mary St. East. You can reach her at 705-789-3398

Contact:

If you would like to use any of the pictures from this post you can contact me at jeremyrupke@gmail.com I can provide full sized images for print. If you are sharing these pictures on the internet please also link to my website. Thank you

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Tagged as: Empire Fire, fire huntsville ontario, Huntsville Ontario Fire