NEW GLASGOW– The lingering scent of smoke remained thick in downtown New Glasgow as investigators from the town’s police major crime identification unit and the provincial fire marshal’s office began sifting through the remains of a MacDonald Street apartment building Thursday morning.
The five-unit building was destroyed by a major fire Wednesday, leaving seven people homeless.
More than 35 firefighters from New Glasgow, as well as departments from neighbouring communities, were on the scene for over nine hours as the building went up in flames.
No one was injured in the blaze, which broke out around noon in the lower left portion of the building.
“There’s very little salvageable inside,” said Fire Chief Doug Dort. “We saved a cat, and we were able to save some medication for one tenant. But most of it was destroyed by fire or smoke.”
Dort, along with police and the fire marshal, went through the structure Thursday and began combing through everything remaining inside.
Police have deemed the fire “suspicious in nature,” says Const. Ken MacDonald, and were expected to continue the investigation well into the evening.
“The investigators are looking everywhere,” MacDonald said. “They’re going in and looking at every little piece of everything left inside. They’re taking pictures, looking at the whole structure itself.”
