Firefighters forced to retreat from basement blaze in Ancaster office building

Hamilton firefighters made it to the basement of an Ancaster insurance business where a blaze raged Tuesday afternoon, but had to get out for their own safety.

They quickly got inside to progressively attack the fire," said Chief Dave Cunliffe, and as they were doing so conditions got worse and worse."

Flames spread from the basement up through the main floor and attic of the one-storey building and then shot through the roof, the fire department chief said.

So it is an extremely well-involved fire," Cunliffe told Spectator photographer Barry Gray at the scene.

Cunliffe said there had been no report of injuries and, with the fire contained inside the building, fire crews switched to a defensive strategy, soaking the blaze from the outside with multiple hoses.

As Cunliffe spoke outside 293 Wilson St. E., smoke continued to pour from the building, while two firefighters in an aerial unit doused the roof from above. The building houses BrokerLink insurance on the main floor and a rental unit in the basement, according to a press release from the fire department.

Three people from the insurance business, and one person in the basement apartment made it out of the building before firefighters arrived, the release said.

The fire department received multiple 911 calls about the fire just after 1 p.m. on Tuesday. Soon after the abandoned basement attack, the fire was upgraded to a multiple-alarm call, bringing in more trucks and crews. At the height of the fire, a dozen units and more than 50 firefighters were on scene, the release said.

The fire was brought under control within an hour.

According to the release, the fire appears to have started in the basement, but a cause has not yet been determined.

The building sustained significant" damage, including a collapsed roof. Damage is estimated at more than $1 million, the release said.

The Office of the Fire Marshal has been notified.

Fire crews were expected to remain on scene Tuesday evening to extinguish hot spots.

The emergency closed Wilson Street in both directions from Sulphur Springs Road to Halson Street, according to Hamilton police, who also tweeted that all occupants had been safely evacuated" from the building and residents asked to avoid the area.

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