Large structure fire reported in Bridgewater, people asked to avoid area

Crews battled a fire in Bridgewater, N.S., on Wednesday.

Crews are battling a large structure fire in Bridgewater, N.S., Wednesday afternoon.

No casualties or injuries have been reported, but the town says one resident remains unaccounted for.

“We are attempting to determine if they are somewhere else or if they are safe,” says Bridgewater Fire deputy chief Danny MacPhee.

He says they haven’t been able to get in the building yet as it’s still active.

“We do believe somebody called from the scene. It was called in as an entrapment. We are trying to track down family members before we do any other notification,” says MacPhee.

Bridgewater Police Service is asking people to avoid King Street between Dufferin Street and Shipyards Landing.

First responders are at the scene and roads in the area are closed.

“The structure fire on King Street remains active and is contained to two residential buildings,” Bronwyn MacFair, communications officer for the Town of Bridgewater writes in a statement to CTV News.

“Crews are applying water to a nearby third building to prevent fire spread.”

Mayor David Mitchell says people should not go to the scene to “just to see what is happening.”

“Other departments are coming to assist and we need to ensure they are not obstructed by people driving down to take a look. This is an active fire and their primary concern is with the safety of people and containment of the fire,” he said in a post on social media.

In an interview with CTV News Atlantic, Mitchell said he is offering support to the community as it waits for information on the missing resident.

“A person unaccounted for it heartbreaking and I’m here to speak to the friends and and the residents that are concerned about that individual,” Mitchell said. “It’s hard when it’s your community to know that someone’s missing.”

Bridgewater Transit says Stop 16 is not in service at this time and the following detour is in place:

• King Street to Dominion
• Dominion to Pleasant
• Pleasant to Dufferin
• Dufferin to St. Andrews
• rejoin regular route on Maple Street.

There is no word on the cause.

Parts of King Street and Maple Street are expected to be closed for at least 24 hours.

The closures affect King Street from Dufferin to Crescent and Maple Street from King to Prince Street.

With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Valentine Nkengbeza

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