Cambridge crews battle early morning fire at heritage property, damage estimated at $1M

KITCHENER -

Cambridge fire crews were battling a fully involved house fire at a heritage property on Tuesday morning.

The fire department was called to the home at 4800 Fountain St. North around 2 a.m.

Officials said the house was empty at the time and no one was injured.

The City of Cambridge designated the building under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1980. It was once Riverbank School and a library, before becoming a regional water lab.

Officials estimated the damage at $1 million, pending further heritage consultation.

Fire officials said the current owner was working on fixing the building up. They were at the property on Monday night and didn't notice anything suspicious.

Despite efforts from firefights, damage is significant.

"While there is a total loss of the roof, the roof is totally collapsed, a lot of the interior is also collapsed," said Ralph Schmidt, a fire prevention officer in Cambridge. "The exterior is in not too bad of shape, so it's a good thing it was stone."

The Ontario Fire Marshal has been called in to investigate.

Crews were putting out hot spots on Tuesday morning and expected to be there for most of the day.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire.

“A big plume of smoke from the distance,” said Billy Pickles who witnessed the fire on his way home from work.

He shot cellphone footage of the flames. He called it shocking.

“Especially at 3 o’clock in the morning coming home from work,” Pickles said. “I saw the flames and then he could see the smoke just billowing out because the fire crews were going at the fire. So the smoke was pretty thick.”

Woolwich and Cambridge firefighters have been on scene of a fully involved structure fire on Fountain Street N. overnight. There are no injuries. Fire Prevention will be attending to determine the cause, origin and circumstances. @cityofcambridge @CPFFALocal499 pic.twitter.com/h8OHhRkj7v

— Cambridge Fire Dept (@CambridgeFD) August 24, 2021