An older commercial building in New Minas, N.S., has been destroyed by fire.
Fire crews from New Minas, Kentville, Greenwich, Wolfville, and Port Williams responded to the fire on Commercial Street just after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.
New Minas Fire Chief James Redmond says the building was fully engulfed when crews arrived on scene.
“Just got out of the fire station and the smoke coming down Commercial Street was, you could hardly see up Commercial Street, there was that much smoke,” says Redmond.
“How it got such a start so fast, I don’t know, but I was only a minute getting here. When I arrived, fire was coming through the roof from one end of the building to the other.”
"It just happened really fast. The smoke started and we called 911," said witness Lee Mason. "And we kind of cleared everyone out to make sure everyone was safe."
Redmond says no injuries were reported.
Crews were still dousing hot spots with water late into Tuesday afternoon.
The building was built in the 1920s and has been renovated a number of times.
The portion of the building that was destroyed housed a Frenchy's Used Clothing Store which was open, and had customers at the time of the fire. All of the shoppers got out of the building unharmed.
Commercial Street was closed to traffic between Prospect Road and Highbury Road for several hours Tuesday.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation, but officials say there is no indication at this time that it is suspicious.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Natasha Pace
