North Bay police close Lakeshore Drive after house fire

Fire crews in North Bay battled flames and the elements Wednesday when a residence went up in flames on Lakeshore Drive.

An early morning house fire on Lakeshore Drive in North Bay closed the road Wednesday, police say.

The structure fire broke out in the Ferris area around 2 a.m.

“Due to (a) major structure fire, Lakeshore Drive will be closed between Fodor (Street) and Judge Avenue,” police said in an alert at 3 a.m.

“Traffic will be detoured until further notice. Plan any travelling in advance and expect traffic.”

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When fire crews arrived, they had a really heavy fire on the first floor extending to the second floor, officials told CTV News reporter Eric Taschner.

“Two occupants self-evacuated at that point, but two other occupants were unaccounted for,” North Bay Fire Chief Jason Whiteley said.

“Fire crews did attempt to go in ... and got a partial search of the house done. However, the intensity of the fire was too much and pushed them back out. The occupants were located, later. So they’re, they’re safe and sound now.”

No injuries have been reported as a result of the fire.

“We’re still trying to put out hotspots,” Whiteley said.

“Floors have collapsed in the building, walls collapsed. So, we’re just kind of in a defensive operation right now.”

The fire is believed to have started in the basement or main floor.

No word yet on the cause.

Frigid conditions

The temperature dropped in North Bay on Wednesday morning.

At 2 a.m. when the fire broke out, it was -10 C but felt more like -16 C with the windchill.

“It’s really hard on the firefighters, you know, especially, when you’re into a fire like this,” Whiteley said about the cold conditions.

“It becomes a defensive fire and you’re outside flowing a lot of water. You can see that we’re picking up the hose right now and the hose is frozen. It’s hard on the equipment and hard on the firefighters.”

Clean up underway

The road is expected to be closed until the afternoon.

“The fire marshal has been notified because this is a multi-residential, multi-occupancy unit,” Whiteley said.

“It’s a substantial loss. I doubt that they’ll show up just because I don’t think we’re going to be able to go in safely and investigate.”

He said his crews haven’t attempted to go into the burned-out structure due to safety concerns.

“I’m not sure if I’m going even to allow my investigators to,” Whiteley added.