Fire extinguished at Main and Emerson

Tyler Hayward / Senior Photo Editor

Sam Colbert

Managing Editor

Construction workers at the site of the to-be Shoppers Drug Mart and Starbucks building on Main Street West and Emerson Street, across the road from McMaster, caused a fire after hitting a gas lineTuesday afternoon.

Emergency vehicles surrounded the building as the intersection and surrounding streets were closed. The businesses and some of the homes close to the building were evacuated. Union Gas arrived on the scene, and power to the adjacent neighbourhood was shut off.

“The power went out at my house on Emerson, so I went outside and saw the fire at the south-west corner of the building,” said second-year student Tiberius Slick. “I was stunned by the amount of police officers that were there for a small fire.”

Flames could be seen from the south side, reaching up to the top of the two-story building.

Traffic from Main Street was re-routed to side streets south of Main and through campus.

The fire was extinguished fairly quickly, and no injuries were reported.