A A

A burning stool has been cited as the cause of a fire that had smoke pouring out of the third-floor windows of a vacant Dorchester Street building earlier this week.

The stool contained a lot of foam, rubber and plastic materials, according to Chris March, deputy fire chief of the Sydney Fire Department, and a combination of these highly flammable materials and wind led to the significant amount of smoke seen from the street on Tuesday evening. Firefighters, however, were able to quickly extinguish it.

“They didn’t even need a fire extinguisher,” he said. “The boys actually put it out with a water can.”

The fire broke out at 75 Dorchester St. about 5:29 a.m. on Tuesday and has not been deemed to be suspicious in nature at this point.

The person who originally reported it noted smoke coming from the top floor on both sides of the back of the building.

Both Station 1 and Station 2 of the Sydney Fire Department responded to the call along with three trucks and the platoon chief. To gain entry, firefighters broke through the boarded up-front doors. Members of the Cape Breton Regional Police Service were also on-site for traffic control and the scene was cleared around 7 p.m.

The building was built in 1900 to house the Cape Breton Post, where the publication stayed until 1985.

In December 2019, it was purchased by Ajay Balyan, his brother Ankit Balyan and partners in India, from Bidart Safety Supply Ltd.

Their plans are to turn the building into a complex with apartments, a food court, a pool hall and a pub.

Ajay was in Halifax on Tuesday when someone informed him of a fire in the building.

“It was so scary for me,” he said, during an interview with the Cape Breton Post.

Since purchasing the building, he said there have been a few occasions where people have broken into the structure, including in the daytime.

“They were using this building as a vacant place,” Ajay said, adding teenagers and adults around 25-35 years old have been located inside.

As for the stool that started Tuesday fire, he said someone put some things on it and burned it intentionally.

“It made smoke and a little fire. It looked like someone was trying to get warm.”

He said the small fire caused no damage to the building, but there was to about 8-10 stools, tables and some other items he had in there.

At one time he said the structure really wasn’t properly secured but said it had been better secured prior to the fire and the building has been boarded up once again.

The building’s new owners will be adding security to the building now and renovation plans for the new complex will be starting soon.

The process for securing a contractor is underway.

“Once the snow clears the work will start inside and outside.”

In 2018, 75 Dorchester Street — which includes 18,750 square feet over three floors — was assessed at $102,100 and listed for sale at $495,000.

Ajay and Ankit moved to Cape Breton from India two years ago to study at Cape Breton University, graduated in May and currently owns the Indian restaurant Swaagat in Sydney.

sharon.montgomery@cbpost.com