Several bricks fell from the front of a building and landed on Charlotte Street in Saint John Friday night, forcing the evacuation of 12 tenants.
The Saint John Fire Department responded to a report of an explosion on Charlotte Street around 2 a.m. Friday. Bricks had fallen from the first two floors of the three-story building at 269 Charlotte St., according to Section Chief Josh Hennessey.
The teams have made a search to evacuate the building. No injuries were reported.
Charlotte Street is closed at Queen Street, Queen Square South and Harding Street and is closed to all vehicular traffic. Foot traffic is also not allowed from 265 to 271 Charlotte St.
Demolition work is expected to take place Sunday morning, according to Hennessey.
“Until the demolition work is completed and the assessment is carried out, we anticipate that this area will remain closed to vehicular and foot traffic,” he said.
The Saint John Fire Department closed the roads surrounding the building on Charlotte Street. (Jericho Knopp)
CBC has reached out to Saint John police for more information. There is nothing in the statement to indicate whether an explosion occurred.
The Canadian Red Cross says it is helping a woman and two children from one apartment, and a couple with three children, including a four-month-old baby, from a second unit.
“Due to a lack of hotel rooms in the Saint John area over the New Brunswick Day long holiday weekend, these three adults and six children had to travel to Moncton to stay with relatives or friends, but they didn’t have transportation, so the Red Cross also covered taxi fares from Saint John to Moncton,” communications director Dan Bedell wrote in a statement.
The tenant returns to the building today
Mila Deblois, one of the displaced Charlotte Street tenants, is returning to Saint John from Moncton today with her two children.
He said his landlord has told him it is safe to re-enter the building.
Deblois said he did not hear or see any explosions.
Her friend, who was visiting Deblois with her children, was awake tending to her baby. According to Deblois, her friend heard a noise like something falling.
Soon after, there was a knock at the door. It was the firemen, who said they had to evacuate.
Deblois still doesn’t know what caused the bricks to fall, although he said there were many on the street. He added that most fell from a neighboring unit while his unit is fine.
She said she was worried at first when she was left on the street and wondered where she and her family would go. Luckily, they had friends in Moncton and the Canadian Red Cross paid for the transportation.
“The kids are all fine, we’re all fine,” he said.
He said the building was old to begin with and he wasn’t totally surprised by the incident.