St Catharines Mayor meets with firefighters from Welland House Hotel blaze
Published July 15, 2021 at 8:05 pm
This afternoon (July 15), St Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik got a chance to meet and thank some of the firefighters who worked on the July 12 Welland House Hotel blaze.
The fire gutted the five-storey heritage building and saw nearly 50 firefighters and 10 vehicles on scene, with fire crews from Pelham and Thorold supporting the efforts of St. Catharines firefighters.
Firefighters had spent days battling the fire, calling in heavy equipment to ensure they were able to access any of the hotspots and areas that were smouldering underneath any collapsed portions of the structure, which was vacant at the time of the fire.
Today, Sendzik expressed his appreciation to them directly.
“Today I met with City of St. Catharines Deputy Fire Chief David Upper at the site of the Welland House fire downtown St. Catharines,” he said in a post on Facebook. “We thank our St Catharines Professional Firefighters for their work to contain the fire and no injuries have been reported.”
He also singled out the construction responsible for the eventual clearing of the rubble, Starnino Environmental Recovery.
Videos
“Thank you Starnino for your work in the clean-up and to keep us safe,” he added.
The scope of the fire was certainly not lost on the Mayor. “This was one of if not the biggest fire in St. Catharines in the last 30-plus years,” Sendzik noted.
However, he asked local residents to continue keeping their distance. “I know the community is interested in the site but please respect the fencing as the site is considered to be dangerous.”
But he added that nearby roads were being cleared as the clean-up continued.
(Photo courtesy of Walter Sendzik Facebook)
insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising