Some parents in Moncton had to find alternative childcare on Monday after a weekend fire at the Moncton SportsDome closed the facility and its afterschool daycare.
The fire was reported just after 7:30 p.m. Friday night. Twenty-one firefighters brought the flames under control within two hours. None of the 25 employees were inside at the time.
Moncton Fire Chief Charles LeBlanc says the cause doesn't appear to be suspicious.
“It definitely appears accidental, obviously there was no criminal element whatsoever to this fire,” Leblanc said. “Our investigators are doing some arc mapping to try to determine exactly where it started and a potential cause.”
The facility hosts indoor soccer, golf football, paintball and an after school daycare. All will be closed for the foreseeable future.
“The fire started in the administration area of the SportsDome. Currently our investigators are on scene. The origin was identified to be the electrical room area,” said Leblanc.
Fire officials say the attached building where the fire started is probably not salvageable, but the pressurized air inside the dome may have limited the amount of damage.
“The biggest issue would have been the collapse of the dome but because the dome is pressurized, obviously smoke would have stayed away from the inside of the dome,” Leblanc said.
Power has been cut to the facility so the building is being inflated by generators. The owner is heading back to Moncton from Florida to assess the damage.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jonathan MacInnis.
