The downtown fire, which engulfed the old Sushi Island restaurant as well as Nipissing Literacy and the Nurse-led practitioner clinic, is now being described as “suspicious”.
“We’re calling the fire suspicious,” Deputy Fire Chief Greg Saunders said. “We’ll have to conduct an investigation, but it’s too early to tell at this point.” Fire chief Jason Whiteley says they’ve contacted the Fire Marshall’s office to come in and assist.
As the day progressed and the fire became under control, North Bay Fire and Emergency Services were able to contain the blaze on the 100 block of Main street east and Oak Street East between the Cedar Tree restaurant and Vic Fedeli’s office .
“We are continuing to extinguish hot spots,” Saunders explained. “We have an excavator in and the idea behind that is to make the area safe for the citizens of North Bay. We’re going to be getting rid of the debris and just working to clear up the scene.”
One member of the fire crews was taken to the hospital to be treated for frostbite, but Saunders says they have been released and are now back at home.
As of 4:00pm, the effort was entering its 16th hour but it was all hands on deck.
“We had a crew fight the fire until 8:00am,” Saunders stated. “Another crew came in at eight, and we have had some off duty personnel attend the fire as well.
