No one has been reported hurt, following a three-alarm blaze in Chinatown, but four people have been temporarily displaced from their homes.
A call came in for a fire at 13 Lebreton Street North around 1:00 a.m. Tuesday. Firefighters arrived to find the building fully engulfed in flames. Further calls for additional crews were made at 1:04 a.m. and 1:13 a.m.
The building is a vacant, two-storey home next door to the Annunciation Orthodox Cathedral. Nearby apartments owned by the church were damaged and deemed unsafe, forcing people to find new accommodations for the time being.
The north wall of the building had collapsed while crews battled the blaze. The building has since been reduced to a pile of rubble
The cause of the fire is under investigation as a possible arson.
Despite this, some good news came about. Father James Griggs tells CTV Ottawa firefighters helped to keep religious relics within the nearby cathedral safe, as they worked.
"I can't imagine dealing with a building burning to the ground, spreading to a second older building and having not only the time, but the thought to look after these things of ours, when they didn't have to," Griggs said.
Firefighters told Griggs the fire was so intense, it's a blessing the church wasn't damaged.
"We were told by the fire department that, a few more minutes, and if they had not been there, it would have taken into the attic, and he's amazed the building was actually not burned down."
Fr. Griggs' daughter Caitlyn Griggs lives in one of the two affected apartments. She, and her three neighbours, have somewhere else to stay.
"Everybody got out safely," she said. "There was nobody in the house next door, thank God, and we have our church building."