The Hopper fire deemed suspicious: Cambridge Fire Department

The Cambridge Fire Department says the blaze that gutted a historic downtown Preston building Saturday night is believed to be suspicious.

Crews were called to the now-vacant venue – formerly home to The Hopper, a dance club and pub – around 8:30 p.m.

Eric Yates, chief fire prevention officer with Cambridge Fire, said people were seen leaving the burning structure and are believed to have been living inside.

“There were some occupants inside the building and one that was seen leaving the building, so we're treating it as suspicious at this time,” Yates said Sunday.

The building at the corner of King Street and Lowther Street was built in the 1800s and is considered a landmark in Preston.

A large fire in downtown Preston can be seen on Saturday, May 6, 2023. (Submitted: Darren Bondy)

An online real estate listing advertises the vacant property as a “redevelopment opportunity” with a listed price of $2.1 million.

In 2015, another fire at the site displaced at least eight residents from a rooming house, which at the time was on the second floor. The Hopper was located on the main floor.

'AN INCREDIBLE SCENE'

Yates said the fire was fully involved when firefighters arrived. Crews from five stations battled the flames, which flared through the roof as thick dark smoke billowed into the sky.

No injuries have been reported.

Eric Yates, chief fire prevention officer with Cambridge Fire speaks to CTV News from the scene of the fire on Sunday, May 7, 2023. (Hannah Schmidt/CTV Kitchener)

Cambridge resident Robbin Bacsek was one of a large crowd who gathered to watch the emergency response.

“There was a couple hundred people and it was an incredible scene,” Bacsek said, adding it was sad to see the well-known building burn.

“It had actually quite a good function for people here and a lot of people are going to be affected by it for sure.”

HOT SPOTS STILL BURNING

As of Sunday afternoon, firefighters continue to tackle hot spots and still haven’t been able to get inside the building.

“There are hot spots that are still burning. Because the structure is unsafe to enter, we attacked it from a defensive mode, so we still have some hot spots that are hard to get at to contain,” Yates said.

Smoke is seen rising off the burned out building on May 7, 2023 as crews remain on scene tackling hot spots. (Hannah Schmidt/CTV Kitchener)

ROADS REMAIN CLOSED

As of Sunday, roads in the area remain closed and Yates expects them to stay at least partially shut for the next couple days as the building is demolished.

Excavators began tearing apart the charred structure around 6 p.m. Sunday.

EVACUEES ALLOWED TO RETURN HOME

Residents of a nearby apartment building were evacuated Saturday night because of the large volume of smoke from the fire and the direction of the wind. Those people have recently been cleared to return home, Yates said.

A full damage estimate isn’t available yet, but Yates said because of the building’s size, the damage will likely be well over $1 million.

Signs for The Hopper nightclub were still visible on the building on Sunday, despite the venue having been closed since 2015. (Hannah Schmidt/CTV Kitchener)

DRONE PHOTOGRAPHER CAPTURES SCENE

Darren Bondy happened to be flying his drone nearby on Saturday night when he noticed smoke.

“We were out taking some drone shots of the sunset, just trying to get some nice shots of the river and the city and I could see smoke off in the distance, so that’s when I kind of just got a little bit closer with the drone and was able to get some pretty captivating footage – I think – from where I was.”

Bondy said the fire was intimidating to look at from his vantage point, adding the thick smoke made it almost impossible to see at times.

“It was wild – that fire was raging for the whole time we were there – it was raging. The fire department had two long ladders up and shooting water down onto the fire, which was incredible to see, it looked like all hands were on deck,” he said.