There were no injuries, but many residents – including families with young children – are displaced as the result of an apartment fire on Simms Street in St. John’s this morning.
Crews were called to Hillcrest Apartments around 5:30 this morning.
Simms Street is located off Gooseberry Lane, behind the College of the North Atlantic (Google Maps)
Acting Platoon Chief with the St. John’s Regional Fire Department, Robin Barrett, says crews were met by heavy smoke and flame when they arrived on the scene.
He says although everyone was safely evacuated and accounted for, the fire itself has proven to be a stubborn one to put out.
(VOCM News)
“We’re defensive now,” Barrett told VOCM News around 11:00 this morning. He says they temporarily stopped the flow of water to the structure “because as you can see, it’s still making some black smoke, so it’s in the ceiling, and we can’t get at it. So, we just sent a crew in there…to try to haul (down) some ceilings and get at it so we can extinguish it.”
The RNC is investigating the cause of the fire. The Canadian Red Cross is providing help to those who have been displaced.
