Saskatoon fire crews battle blaze at hotel construction site

A hotel construction site on Lorne Avenue continued to smolder late Wednesday afternoon after going up in smoke and flames in the morning.

Saskatoon fire crews were called to the Sandman Hotel across from the Western Development Museum just after 6 a.m.

Fire crews had the area contained by 9:20 a.m., just over three hours after arriving on scene.

Assistant Fire Chief Wayne Rodger said it was not a safe scene to send crews into, so firefighters were working from the outside of the building.

“There are still some hot spots inside that we can’t reach,” he said. ” We’ve determined the stability of that structure isn’t in the best interest of sending our people in.”

“We fear there is a potential for collapse.”

Nearly dropped my phone a moment ago after what sounded like some kind of explosion inside this fire at hotel construction site on Lorne Ave. #yxe pic.twitter.com/qwtmtPKt23

— Bryn Levy (@BrynLevy) April 18, 2018

Rodger later confirmed a number of propane tanks at the scene blew up in the flames.

He said the fact the blaze happened in a building still under construction presented challenges.

“Fire sprinklers, fire alarms, rated fire separations — they’re just not there. So we’ve got a lot of exposed wooden components of the building,” he said.

They're hitting this blaze from above here on Lorne Ave. Major damage to hotel under construction. pic.twitter.com/EuommrHc5n

— Bryn Levy (@BrynLevy) April 18, 2018

While Rodger said he expected it would be some time before the site would be safe for an investigator to enter and try and determine what caused the blaze, he could confirm that the blaze started in the upper floors on the western side of the building.

Albert Lengyel lives nearby and heard a big explosion that was strong enough to shake the dishes in his kitchen.

“They rattled in the cupboard when I heard this explosion,” he told reporters.

Crews from @SaskatoonFire hard at work at early morning construction site blaze on Lorne Ave. Traffic restricted in area. Expect them to be at this scene for a while. pic.twitter.com/rrERX9VBAx

— Bryn Levy (@BrynLevy) April 18, 2018

View from the front here at scene of fire at hotel construction site on Lorne Ave. #yxe pic.twitter.com/rADT5Rl3rR

— Bryn Levy (@BrynLevy) April 18, 2018

As of 11:30 a.m., the southbound lanes of Lorne Avenue were reopened to traffic. By 5:10 p.m. northbound lanes re-opened.

Kara Fagnou, director of building standards with the city said new requirements in the National Building Code of Canada were introduced in 2015.

Those requirements allow for six-story wood frame construction, the type of framing used at the construction site on Lorne Avenue.

No injuries were reported.

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Keenan Sorokan