Waterville blazes leave questions

BY SARA KEDDY

Kings County Register

Two early morning fires in Waterville July 12 are “obviously connected,” and officials are investigating.

Waterville fire department spokesman Kevin Ernest says the department, RCMP and the fire marshall’s office are all looking into the suspicious incidents.

Both properties - vacant apartment buildings - are owned by the same individual.

The first call came in at 4:40 a.m., when a passerby noticed the fire at the corner of Mill and Park streets, across from the Waterville post office. “It was fully involved when we arrived,’ Ernest says, “and all we were able to do was protect the other exposures” of nearby properties. The building “sustained substantial damage.”

Mutual aid came in from Kentville, New Minas, Canning, Berwick and Aylesford departments, and Ernest says the biggest concern was having enough tankers.

While one of the trucks was returning from the Michelin plant with a load of water, its crew noticed smoke coming from a second vacant Mill Street property. “Crews were directed there, and we were able to get that one before it was too bad.”

Ernest says there was no ready indicator at the scenes of the fires’ cause, but they are both suspicious. “Firefighters were wrapped up by about 8 a.m., but we kept a pumper on site during the investigations, and that kept crews tied up until about 4 p.m.”

The first, more heavily damaged building was torn down later the same day.