No injuries reported following lunchtime fire in uptown Saint John

Building fire in Saint John, N.B. Firefighters responded to a building fire in Saint John, N.B., around lunchtime on Monday.

A late morning fire in Saint John, N.B., made the lunchtime commute through uptown a little slower than normal Monday.

The Saint John Fire Department was called to a report of a structure fire at 185 Union St. at 11:30 a.m., resulting in a partial closure of the street.

🚨 Public Notice 🚨

Fire crews are actively battling a structure fire at Maxx Pub on Union Street. Smoke and flames are visible. Fire suppression and search operations are underway. 🚒🔥

🚧 Expect traffic delays on Union Street. Avoid the area if possible. 🚧 pic.twitter.com/aZSU1x9rQJ

— City of Saint John (@cityofsaintjohn) November 25, 2024

Upon arrival, crews noticed heavy fire coming from the building’s third floor.

“It's a three-story mixed use building, so there’s residential and commercial in it,” Platoon Chief Josh Hennessy told CTV Atlantic. “We launched an aggressive attack to that third story, and also prioritized clearing the building to make sure there was no one in it.”

Hennessy says there was no one inside the building at the time the fire started, and there were no civilian or firefighter injuries to report.

Saint John fire 2 An entrance is pictured to the third floor of a building in Saint John, N.B., where a fire occurred on Nov. 25, 2024. (Avery MacRae/CTV Atlantic)

He noted there were challenges in fighting the fire due to much of the structure being boarded up. Crews were able to contain the fire's damage to the third floor. While there was no physical damage from the fire to the first and second floor, it isn’t known if there is any smoke damage to the floors below.

By 1 p.m., the road had reopened to traffic and fire investigators were on the scene. There is no word on a cause of the fire at this time.

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