No one was hurt Thursday when a two-alarm fire broke out at a Simpson Street residence.
Firefighters and police closed off the street between Atlantic and Pacific avenues while battling the blaze, which appeared to start in the basement of the two-storey brick-faced home.
"When the first crews arrived they had smoke and fire conditions showing. We called a second alarm, because that's our policy for working fires," said Fire Chief John Hay, on hand to supervise the effort.
"There was nobody in the building. Everybody was evacuated from the building prior to us getting there and we believe we've got it knocked down right now."
Hay said fire crews will remain on scene a little longer to ensure the fire is completely out.
Hay said it's too soon to know a cause or the extent of the damage.
"They haven't done a damage assessment. it's still very smoky in there, so we're ventilating and hopefully we'll get all the spot fires knocked down and be able to do an assessment.
Motorists are being asked to seek alternate travel routes until the road is reopened to traffic.