Small fire put out at former hotel but it could have been much worse

A small fire at the the old Sands Hotel at Fisher and McIntyre Streets today.

Chief Jason Whiteley says it could have been a lot worse but a couple of people were walking by and saw something and called the North Bay Fire Department right away.

He says they forced entry into the building and found a contents fire.

“The amount of combustibles in that building and all the wood structure in that building is exposed. If the fire had got going any longer we would have been into a very large and dangerous fire,” he says.

He says there’s lots of waste in the rooms and the fire could have spread very fast if they weren’t notified in the early stages of the fire.

Whiteley was asked about a cause.

“It’s obvious there have been squatters in the building. We’re treating it as suspicious because aren’t supposed to be in that building but it could have been caused by cooking or cigarette,” Whiteley says.

(photo by station staff)