NANAIMO — An early morning fire at the site of the former Howard Johnson Hotel covered a large section of downtown Nanaimo with smoke on Thursday.
Just before 3:30 a.m. on May 22, Nanaimo Fire Rescue (NFR) crews were called to the corner of Terminal Ave. and Comox Rd., with the hotel long abandoned and currently in the process of being demolished.
A pile of wood and other debris created by the demolition process was on fire, with thick smoke covering much of Nanaimo’s downtown.
There doesn’t appear to be any immediate impacts on traffic in the area, but use caution when passing by and give plenty of room to any emergency vehicles.
Nanaimo Fire Rescue crews putting out a fire in a pile of wooden debris, part of the ongoing demolition effort of the former Howard Johnson Hotel. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)Excavators were on site near the end of March, ripping away siding and beginning to tear down walls of the hotel site, which closed in 2018.
Crews are expected to leave the site largely bare ahead of what’s being described as a mixed-use development owned and operated by Snuneymuxw First Nation.
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
NanaimoNewsNOW has reached out to NFR for more information, and will update the story when it becomes available….
White smoke and the smell of fire covered a large section of downtown and south Nanaimo early Thursday morning. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)Subscribe to our daily news wrap. Local news delivered to your email inbox every evening. Stay up to date on everything Nanaimo and Oceanside.
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