Six fire trucks carrying about 20 firefighters rushed to a suspicious blaze at an abandoned building in Middle Sackville Sunday afternoon.
Platoon Chief Mike Blackburn said Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Service “responded to a call of smoke coming out of a basement window” at 1423 Sackville Dr. shortly before 2:30 p.m.
Blackburn said the building had once served as a school, adding he heard it had also housed Beacon House at one time.
“There was vandalism apparent from the exterior,” he said. “Every window in the building is either boarded up or broken, so they forced entry.”
Blackburn said firefighters forced their way through the front door and “extinguished the fire very quickly,” adding the building sustained minor damage and no one was inside at the time.
Fire investigators hadn’t figured out what started the blaze as of last night, but Sgt. Bruce Webb of Halifax RCMP said police will help once a cause is determined.
“We’ll go and try to find out who did it.”
Authorities had to shut down traffic on part of Sackville Drive for about a half hour.
