CTV.ca News Staff

A massive explosion and fire ripped through the historic downtown core of Barrie, Ont. overnight, destroying several buildings and forcing the evacuation of dozens of people.

Firefighters fought for hours to extinguish the blaze, which broke out at 11:20 p.m. in a Thai restaurant located at Dunlop and Bayfield Streets.

A number of people in the community, located approximately 90 kilometres north of Toronto, heard the explosion. The blast occurred in the basement of the restaurant, scattering furniture and glass.

"Boom, everything just blew out the bottom windows," one Barrie resident told CTV News.

The fire quickly spread to neighbouring buildings and at least 50 residents from nearby apartments and patrons at a hotel were evacuated. The evacuees were provided shelter by the local church, Salvation Army and local hotels. One building collapsed in a flurry of flames and debris.

Dozens of firefighters from neighbouring communities rushed to the scene, pumping in water from Lake Simcoe to extinguish the blaze. One firefighter suffered a dislocated shoulder; however, no other injuries were reported.

One distraught downtown resident said she may have lost all her pets in the blaze.

"A dog that goes everywhere with me, two cats, two birds and two guinea pigs," said Rosemary Bonhamschriver, shaking and in tears.

Dozens of people who lived above the businesses have been left homeless.

Fire officials described the blaze as one of the worst in decades. At least six buildings were destroyed, among them the landmark Wellington Hotel.

Coun. Jeff Lehman told CTV Newsnet the hotel's destruction comes as a great loss to the city.

"It's the historic centre of the downtown. That is a great loss and there are some stores to the north and to the west that have also been gutted," he said Friday.

Eight businesses have been destroyed along the large block of buildings known as the Five Points Intersection. Fire officials estimate millions of dollars in damage has occurred.

Deputy Fire Chief Rick Monkman told CTV Newsnet on Friday that the fire has been contained and fire crews are trying to extinguish a number of hotspots.

"We've had to close down a number of businesses in the immediate area because the building structure is still in question. We could have further collapses up the street," he said.

Monkman said the age of the buildings was a factor that challenged fire crews.

"(One of the buildings) was over 100 years old. It was balloon construction and for firefighters that know construction, balloon construction is one of the hardest fires to fight," he said.

"Also, our water supply was taxed quite heavily in the downtown core."

Barrie Mayor Dave Aspden told Canada AM on Friday that the city will rally despite already sinking money into restoration projects in recent years.

"I'm sure Barrie will pull together and we'll see business back in the same location in time," he said.

Part of the downtown area will be closed for the day which will likely cause a "traffic mess," he said.

Aspden said there is no indication what caused the explosion. "I just know the Barrie fire crew and the adjoining fire departments that had to come in and help have done a terrific job," Aspden said.

There are over 600 property owners and business operators in historic downtown Barrie, which was established in 1814.

The massive fire was the second to strike a prominent Georgian Bay community in a week. Last Thursday night, a blaze erupted along the main strip at Wasaga Beach, destroying up to 70 per cent of the tourist area's businesses.

With a report from CTV's John Musselman

Please Add Comments(20)

Tiffany wrote on December 07, 2007 at 9:38:20 AM
I used to live in Barrie and this upsets me very much. However, I am sure of the fact that the city will recover. My heart goes out to those who lost their apartments. I'd like to say Good Work to all the firefighters on this difficult job.

P wrote on December 07, 2007 at 9:40:45 AM
WOW - cannot believe it. After living in the area for amost 30 years to think that the downtown is damaged so much - WOW hard to imagine. I have many times driven / walked there. Well goes to show you, nothing ever stays the same, change happens when it is least expected. Even at this hard time though change can be a good thing. I am sure as usual Barrie will improve and grow as it has been doing all these years.

james wrote on December 07, 2007 at 9:26:55 AM
My prayers are with the families of the people who have lost a business.

Pat wrote on December 07, 2007 at 10:05:22 AM
Yes, this is very upsetting, this fire along with the one in Wasaga Beach recently, is ruining my memories of the two great places that I have visited so often. Could there be a connection? We need to conserve our Canadian memories and protect them as our country is changing so much. It is all very sad!

Mandy wrote on December 07, 2007 at 10:06:37 AM
My thoughts and prayers are with everyone at this time. Thoughts are also with the fire crew.

Steve wrote on December 07, 2007 at 10:08:02 AM
Another historic building gone. Many fond memories of my misspent youth, hanging out at the “Welly” (Wellington Hotel) on Friday and Saturday nights. Almost feels like an old friend passing. Hopefully the City will require the new building, if one is built, to look traditionally old.

T wrote on December 07, 2007 at 10:14:25 AM
So sad...I was at the fire scene this morning to see the smoldering wreckage. That Thai place was my favourite restaurant in Barrie, and now that and years of history are gone. It's a very tragic day for the city of Barrie

Mike wrote on December 07, 2007 at 10:43:13 AM
I drove past the scene this morning, and could see a large hole in the row of buildings on Dunlop street, where a building had collapsed. Amazing that there were no injuries, given the terrible damage. My heart goes out to those who have lost everything, surely making for a difficult Christmas.

Chris Rogers wrote on December 07, 2007 at 11:03:33 AM
Tragic to lose such an old building. I only hope that the building was kept to standards. There is a problem in Barrie with standards and maintaining buildings. Hopefully this will open the eyes of officials before we lose even more historic landmarks in Barrie

Norma-June wrote on December 07, 2007 at 11:23:44 AM
I live in Wasaga Beach where fire just destroyed our pedestrian mall on the Beach One area. I am saddened by the loss of yet another historical area. My heart goes out for those who have lost their homes and businesses. Perhaps when they rebuild they will do so keeping the area similiar to what it was.

Lynne Doucette-Vernon wrote on December 07, 2007 at 11:36:19 AM
My Grampa was born in the Wellington Hotel in 1891.

My thoughts and prayers are with all who lost their homes, businesses and memories from this tragic fire.

I know that Barrie will rise like the Phoenix and rebuild.

May God Bless each and everyone of the dedicated firefighters who fought this most difficult blaze.

Ashley wrote on December 07, 2007 at 11:58:05 AM
My brother-in-law is a fire captain in Barrie and after speaking with my sister this morning, he reports that this fire was absolutely devastating. I called soon as I found out about the fire and was sitting next to my phone all morning! Such a sad loss, but I am so absolutely thankful there were not more losses as a result of this fire.

Tim wrote on December 07, 2007 at 12:05:06 PM
I have lived in Barrie all my life and it is scary to see the damage caused. It upsets me to see the destruction of historic Barrie. Unfortunately, this is not the first time five points has been struck with fire. In January 1994, we lost Sam the Record Man, and now we loose the Wellington. I hope Barrie decides to rebuild, but keep it historic looking. The historic downtown is what makes Barrie, Barrie.
This too is a hard time to lose everything, especially those who lost their apartments. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people who lost their homes and businesses.

Jessica wrote on December 07, 2007 at 12:25:15 PM
My cousin and her boyfriend were a young couple that had moved to Barrie 3 months ago. I just found out they lost everything in this fire. They were both servers and had moved to Barrie 3 months ago to save money for school next year. They lost absolutely everything in this fire including two beloved pets. My thoughts are with everyone who was affected by this.

Jenn in BC wrote on December 07, 2007 at 12:26:46 PM
Just thankful that there was not loss of life with this fire. Barrie recovered after the tornados, they will recover from this fire. My prayers go out to all who lost their places of business, the owners and the people who worked for them.

Steeplejack wrote on December 07, 2007 at 12:34:59 PM
Steve said:
"Another historic building gone. Hopefully the City will require the new building, if one is built, to look traditionally old."

You can be sure that they will not Steve, I guarantee it. In a property market as hot as Barrie's currently is, there is no way any developer is going to want to build smaller buildings of traditional materials in a downtown core. No way at all. At best they might try to use some surviving empty shell as a facade, but that would be about it -- and they'll trumpet that to the skies too, as part of the great job they're doing.
The fact is, developers are only in it to make the maximum profit, and traditional materials -- stone, brick, plaster, wood, just get in the way of the bottom line when they can use sheet glass, steel and concrete much more cheaply. Then they'll try and sell it to you as some masterwork of modern architecture, rather than the beautiful buildings they once were.
Another reason is that the city won't step in the way of developers when they need cash -- and all cities need cash.
Finally, I am quite convinced that the vast majority of Canadians don't give a rat's ass about historic buildings anyway. Oh, there are a vocal few, but most -- well, let's face it: if it didn't involve THEM, or the culture they descended from -- they don't care. History, schmistory, who cares when there's a buck to be made?
Frankly, I have my suspicions about the fire and the Wasaga Beach one for the reasons I've mentioned already - because somebody stands to make a buck and who cares about old buildings anyway?
I love downtown Barrie (I'm from Toronto) because they've really made an attempt to preserve it's architectural heritage. But preservation and rebuilding are two different things. The city might be willing to invest in conserving its past, but they won't when it comes to rebuilding. Almost nobody does in this part of the world.

Deborah MacNeill wrote on December 07, 2007 at 1:09:12 PM
I grew up in Barrie & many a day I caught the bus at Five Points. As I got older, my haunts were the Queens, the Wellington & the American hotels. Now there is only one left. It is very sad to see this happen. Hopefully when the city rebuilds, it will maintain the look of the historic buildings still there.

Aaron Coates wrote on December 07, 2007 at 1:15:44 PM
Ha i was awoken from a beutiful sleep to Barrie police kicking down my door to tell us that are next door building was up in flames, we also had our baby in the apartment so we were just happy to get him out, we still dont know how long it will be till we can go home...Just happy our lil guy is ok

DSS wrote on December 07, 2007 at 1:25:59 PM
I saw the explosion at 11:30 last night and it was very surreal. Glass, chairs and tables in the street. Hopefully the Royal Thai and the other effected businesses will be back on their feet soon..... There's not that many good Thai places in Barrie ;)

Rob. wrote on December 07, 2007 at 1:29:33 PM
This is a sad day for the City of Barrie.
The downtown core is already in desperate need of revitalization and with such an historic building lossed to fire especially at the five points it is tragic. There are not too many old buildings left in the City to remind us of Barrie's illustrious past, and unfortunately the current mayor and Barrie City council has done nothing to return it to it's former glory. It just went from bad to worse!