Fire marshal has 'good handle' on cause of North Winds Inn fire

P.E.I. fire Marshal Dave Rossiter says he has an idea what started the fire at the North Winds Inn in Brackley Beach Sunday afternoon, but he's not ready to release that information yet.

"We have a good handle, first on the origin of the fire, and the possible cause," Rossiter told CBC News.

"There's a few more people that we want to talk to, some other things we want to check out before we release that."

Rossiter expects to be able to release more information on the cause of the fire within a couple of days.

Firefighters were called in about 4 p.m. Sunday. A thick, black column of smoke could be seen rising into the air from kilometres away.

A three-storey building that housed 16 suites and a larger space for meetings and weddings, was completely destroyed. There are only charred bits of steel and a burned-out car next to where the building stood.

The rest of the innremains intact.

Working under a heat warning

Everyone was able to get out of the building. One guest was taken to hospital with minor burns, according to the fire marshal.

Rossiter said high winds and extreme heat made the work more difficult for firefighters.

"We were lucky that we didn't have any firefighters go down with the heavy heat," he said.

"They were doing a good job rotating them out, making sure they were hydrated."

A heat warning was in effect for the Island Sunday.

Seven fire departments and about 100 firefighters helped contain and knock down the fire.

More P.E.I. news