Bathurst fire destroys four buildings in downtown area

A major fire inBathurst, N.B., that broke out around midnight on Friday has destroyed or badly damaged at least four downtown buildings.

Emergency crews remain on the scene at thecorner of Main Street and King Avenue onSaturday morningdealing with hotspots.

It's a sad day for Bathurst.- Gail Badman, owner, Christie's Building

Bathurst Fire Department deputy chief Marc Robichaud, says 50 people have been displaced after residential apartments above the buildings were evacuated.

Most of the tenants are staying with friends or relatives, according to the Canadian Red Cross.

Ironically, the Bathurst office of the Canadian Red Cross is located in one wing of the building at the corner of Main Street and King Avenue, the organization said Saturday morning.

"Damage ... if any,has yet to be confirmed as firefighters still have the area cordoned off."

There are no reports of injuries.

GailBadman, owner of the Christie's Building, says she received a call about smoke coming from the structure at around midnight.

Badman says her building is at least partially destroyed.She says the Birds Eye View pet store is completely gone and the Au Gourmet Cafe is badly damaged.

"I'm just sick to my stomach. It's a sad day for Bathurst," said Badman.

Paul Chapman, who owns a nearby farmers market, says he came across the fire scene at around 5:15 a.m.

"I could see in one building from the back.I could see flames in the upper floors from the ceiling and they were dumping water on that by the hundreds of gallons and they had an excavator in there ripping down the building beside it trying to get to the fire," he said.

Electricity, which was knocked out to about 450 NB Power customers for several hours because of the fire, has been restored.

So far, police and fire officials have not been available to comment on the possible cause of the blaze.