Historic Moncton building damaged in early morning fire

An early morning Sunday fire has caused extensive damage inside a large downtown building in Moncton, N.B.

An early morning fire has caused extensive damage inside a large downtown Moncton building which is home to several well-known businesses.

Moncton Fire Department Platoon Chief Brian McDonald said they were called to the McSweeney Building at 700 Main Street around 2 a.m. Sunday.

“Once we arrived on scene, we discovered there was a fire burning on the third floor on the fire escape on the back of the building,” said McDonald.

McDonald said the fire activated a sprinkler head inside the building.

“It pretty much held the fire until we completely extinguished it,” he said. “Unfortunately, there was a substantial amount of water damage because the sprinkler system was activated on the third floor and some water ran down to floor two and floor one.”

The building has several tenants including the popular Tide & Boar Gastropub, Duo Café, McSweeney Company Dinner Theatre, and Handsome Devil’s Barber Shop.

Just before 9 a.m. Tide & Boar announced on social media it would be closed for the day.

“Due to a fire in a neighbouring part of the building, we will unfortunately be closed today. We will update further as more information becomes available,” stated the post.

McDonald said there were no injuries and the cause of the fire is being investigated.

“There’s quite a bit of water,” said McDonald. “There’s certainly water damage throughout the building, on all three floors.”

The Moncton Firefighters Association posted photos on social media Sunday morning saying the historical downtown building had been saved from fire.

The union said its firefighters responded to a fire alarm activation at the building which is located across from city hall in the heart of downtown Moncton.

“While investigating the alarm, crews spotted flames at the rear on the 3rd floor,” stated the post on Facebook.

According to the post, firefighters quickly knocked down the fire, preventing it from spreading any further.

The firefighters’ union is reminding people fire alarms save lives, they should always be taken seriously and people should evacuate when they sound.

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