Heavy white smoke covered much of Nanaimo's downtown early Thursday morning, after a fire broke out in a pile of debris at the site of the former Howard Johnson Hotel at the corner of Terminal Ave. and Comox Rd. around 3:30 a.m. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

early morning fire

Early morning fire at former Howard Johnson hotel in downtown Nanaimo

May 22, 2025 | 6:19 AM

NANAIMO — An early morning fire at the site of the former Howard Johnson Hotel covered a large section of downtown Nanaimo with smoke on Thursday.

Just before 3:30 a.m. on May 22, Nanaimo Fire Rescue (NFR) crews were called to the corner of Terminal Ave. and Comox Rd., with the hotel long abandoned and currently in the process of being demolished.

Assistant fire chief Stu Kenning told NanaimoNewsNOW four engines were dispatched to the property, as large flames were visible and smoke was covering much of Nanaimo’s downtown.

“Once they got on scene and did their recon and noticed it was a fairly large debris pile, we stood down two engines and two engines remained on scene to extinguish the fire, with the help of an excavator on scene as well.”

Nanaimo Fire Rescue crews putting out a fire in a pile of wooden debris, part of the ongoing demolition effort of the former Howard Johnson Hotel. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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Excavators were on site near the end of March, ripping away siding and beginning to tear down walls of the hotel site, which closed in 2018.

Crews are expected to leave the site largely bare ahead of what’s being described as a mixed-use development owned and operated by Snuneymuxw First Nation.

Kenning said they were on scene for around two hours.

“It’s under investigation at this time and we don’t have a cause as of yet. No exposures, no spread, they did have live-in security on site which was quite a big help.”

White smoke and the smell of fire covered a large section of downtown and south Nanaimo early Thursday morning. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Crews had the fire out and had left the scene by 7:00 a.m. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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