Cause still unknown

The acting director of fire prevention and investigation says the cause of a blaze that destroyed a former Simpson Street nightclub could remain unknown.

"I’m hazarding a guess that with the amount of structural damage there, we’re not going to be able to determine a cause," said John Boorman.

Investigators were on site Friday at the corner of Miles and Simpson Streets where the old Club 777 caught fire early Thursday morning. Heavy equipment was brought in to begin excavation of the property since the ceiling and walls had collapsed.

"We’re going to be very diligent, at a slow pace, just in case we find some evidence or something that will give us an indication to how the fire started," Boorman said.

It’s a hazardous process, he added, noting they have to worry about adjacent buildings and the public in the street.

Simpson Street is still closed to the public in that area and Boorman said they’re aware that it’s a problem for people travelling through the downtown area, but they have to make sure everyone is safe.

Because of the cold weather and subsequent ice covering the ground, it could take well into the weekend to secure the area.

"What we’re going to be doing once we’ve finished our investigation is we’ll be making sure that piece of property is safe to the public," Boorman said. "You’ll be able to walk on the sidewalks and there wont’ be a pile of rubble and a hole. I’m thinking the area will be fenced off until such time they can bring fill in and complete the excavation."

Fire crews still have no reason to believe anyone was inside the building at the time of the fire. But the building was open at the time, said Boorman.

"It was unsecured so we have to assume that maybe there was a possibility that there was somebody inside," he said.

Investigators also still have nothing to suggest the fire was linked to the vandalism call they received Thursday morning that led them to discover the blaze.

Because of the cold temperatures, fire crews had issues with some of their equipment breaking. Deputy fire chief Greg Hankkio said a four-inch pipe on one of their aerial ladders froze and broke as well as some valve failures and frozen hose lines.

"Fighting a fire of the magnitude they had on Simpson Street is difficult at the best of times," Hankkio said. "When we add a dimension like cold weather to the fire itself, probably the first base concern is for the health and safety of the firefighters on the scene … some of it is just inherent to the job and the weather itself when you’re fighting a fire."