Numerous emergency responders attended a structure fire on Wallace St. and Campbell St. home of the closed Caledonian Clinic. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

structure fire

Squatters believed responsible for stubborn fire at vacant downtown Nanaimo building

Jan 25, 2023 | 1:35 PM

NANAIMO — Crews managed to snuff out a fire inside a dormant and presumed vacant medical building.

The fire was reported to Nanaimo Fire Rescue on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 11:25 a.m. at the former Caledonian Clinic at the corner of Wallace St. and Campbell St.

Fire Rescue assistant chief Stu Kenning reported minimal interior fire damage, but said substantial smoke damage was reported. He said there was a report one person possibly missing in the boarded-up building at the time.

“It looks like they were living in the building or squatting in the building,” Kenning said, who confirmed nobody was found inside following an extensive search.

Crews were shown to the fire by a second person who Kenning said appeared to be living in the building.

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Heavy smoke was seen billowing from all entrances of the building, which is fenced-off. Fire Rescue crews spent well over an hour on scene dousing any flames and checking inside and roof areas for hot spots.

Kenning said access provided some issues for their firefighters,

“It was challenging because it was boarded up, the access was difficult.”

Traffic disruptions resulted from a structure fire at a building on Campbell St. at Wallace St. in downtown Nanaimo midday on Wednesday, Jan 25. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

No power had been or is in place at the building. BC Hydro crews did attend however Kenning said they weren’t called and just happened to be in the area.

Nearly 20 firefighters were dispatched to the scene, while RCMP and City bylaw personnel provided support roles.

The incident temporarily caused traffic disruptions on both Campbell St. and Wallace St.

The long-closed medical building, planned to be transformed into a 163 unit, six storey residential rental building, has a demolition and building permit in place to proceed to the construction phase.

Crews searched the inside of the building for both hotspots and anyone trapped inside after a report of a second person associated to the fire were received. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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