There wasn’t much that fire crews could do to salvage any of the abandoned Sleepy Haven Motel that went up in flames in the early morning hours Sunday, says Laurentian Valley Fire Chief Tim Sutcliffe.
What’s more, an individual experiencing homelessness had been staying in the building, said the chief, but was not injured and has reportedly been connected to local social services. The motel had been shut down more than 10 months ago and power to the building had been shut off, he said.
The call for service came in around 5:22 a.m. on Sunday, April 28 and crews arrived to a full-scale fire.
“There was smoke coming out from all over the place, all through the roof and there was flames all on the back side of it. It was fully involved when we got there,” said Sutcliffe.
Smoke and flames made for almost no visibility for the first responders, who immediately took action.
“Our first thing was obviously hit the fire but what had to be done at the same time was make sure it didn’t extend itself into the surrounding buildings,” said Sutcliffe.
The Assante Financial Management building is directly next door, he noted. Efforts to contain the fire and limit exposure to the surrounding buildings were successful, he said.
Firefighting efforts were complicated by the makeup of the structure, which had a double ceiling from several renovations, which means there was a tin roof, a vacant air space and then the ceiling. It became clear around 7 a.m. that the services of Mcrea Excavating would be required to help break up the structure.
“So what happens is the fire gets in between there and there’s no way of getting at that fire unless you tear it down so that’s why we bring in the high hoe and tear it because first of all, we can’t go inside it because it’s too dangerous, it could collapse at any time, to work from the inside up and you can’t shoot over top. You could put water on it all day and a tin roof does what a tin roof is supposed to do, it repels the water,” said Sutcliffe.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, said the chief. Crews were on scene for about eight hours.
(Written by Sherry Haaima)
