A major fire in Downtown Saint John has hit three adjoining wood–frame buildings containing one business and several apartments.

Saint John Fire Chief Kevin Clifford says the fire broke out at around 2:30 a.m. Sunday on Prince Edward Street.

One of the buildings had a small business on the ground floor and several apartments above it.

Clifford says one building is completely destroyed, while another had "substantial damage" and will likely have to come down. The third building suffered tremendous damage to the exterior of it, but might be able to be saved.

The Canadian Red Cross says that 11 people escaped from the fire unhurt.

Because of the firefighting efforts, there's been a build up of water on the street and that has entered the basement and electrical area of Prince Edward Apartments, a 10-storey building located directly across the street.

"Because the electrical has been compromised, we had to move the people out," said Kevin Clifford.

He said most of the roughly 100 residents are staying with friends, while others are being put up in a reception centre at a Boys and Girls Club.

Clifford suspects the people will be out of their units for between 12 and 24 hours.

Earlier today, smoke was billowing into the 10-storey apartment, which led many of its residents to leave, said Saint John Police Sgt. David Cowan. At the time, the residents were being sheltered at a nearby mall.

The transportation department is on site, helping to clear away the ice and debris from the scene, said Clifford.

Joshua Kindred lives two blocks away from the scene of the fire and described the scene early Sunday morning.

“When I went up there, there were no flames. The buildings were burnt and gone and fell to the ground by the time I got there. They’re still dumping water on it right now and we have no power. All the power lines are down. So yeah, they’ve got city transit buses for people to sit in, but all our power is out and our house is starting to get cold already,” he said.

Several streets are closed as firefighters continue to deal with the fire, including Prince Edward Street, Union Street and Waterloo Street.

There is no word on the cause of the fire.