Crews can be seen tackling the natural gas-fueled blaze at St. Andrews on May 2, 2024.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Kamloops fire crews are battling a blaze at a historic church in downtown Kamloops.

The fire broke out at around 9 a.m. today, May 2, at St. Andrew's on the Square at the corner of Seymour Street and Second Avenue.

Fire crews had it under control nearly an hour later once the exposed natural gas line fuelling the blaze was closed, deputy fire chief Ryan Cail said.

The historic church is the oldest public building in Kamloops, built in 1887. Although it no longer functions as a church, it frequently hosts events like weddings and funerals.

"There's going to be a lot of sad people," Wayne McDonald said, who lives in an apartment behind the church. "It's such an important building to a lot of people."

Cail said the fire wasn't completely out yet, around 10 a.m., but it was contained. With five fire trucks at the scene and well over a dozen firefighters, they worked hard to save the heritage building, he said.

"There's no doubt that given the historical value of this building, it's significant to many people in the city. We treat every building the same, of course, but the difference with this one is we try to preserve all of the old artifacts, the photos and everything that means so much about this building to everybody in this town." 

The fire was under control by around 10 a.m. once the gas line was closed.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Smoke billowed through shingles before the gas line was shut off, with fire briefly breaking through. The extent of the damage isn't yet known, but Cail said crews will soon be assessing the damage and also start to investigate what caused the fire. He also said most of the fire was on the outside of the building.

Crews appeared to be keeping the fire at bay until the natural gas line was closed, then they began to put the fire out. They had to wait for heavy equipment to arrive on scene and dig up the paved alley, where the underground gas line was closed.

Traffic, already impacted by city works in the area, has been impacted by the fire. Drivers should avoid the area.

Crews had to dig the below the paved alley in order to shut off the natural gas line fueling the fire on May 2, 2024.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

— This story was updated with more information and photos from the scene at 10:56 a.m., May 2, 2024.

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