A 33-year-old man has been charged with arson after an early morning fire completely destroyed a building at 144 12th St. which housed two Brandon businesses, a taxi company and a non-profit agency, and more than 10 apartments. tenants
Police helped all tenants out of the burning building safely, while Brandon Fire and Emergency Services battled to contain the blaze for much of the day. The man accused of starting the fire faces charges of trespassing and arson without regard to human life.
The fire started around 3 a.m. after an employee of one of the shops called the police to say that someone had entered the building. The employee was hiding in the office and reported smelling smoke.
Brandon firefighters work to contain a major fire Monday that engulfed a building on 12th Street between Rosser and Princess avenues that housed ABC Taxi and Turning Leaf Support Services, as well as apartments. The building eventually collapsed on itself as firefighters tried to prevent the fire from spreading to other nearby buildings. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
When they arrived at the scene, the police arrested the suspect, who had apparently broken the glass of one of the building’s front doors and started a fire inside. The police alerted and helped to evacuate the tenants who lived in apartments on the second floor of the building. Soon after, flames quickly engulfed the structure. No injuries were reported.
Fire Capt. Shayne Collister, speaking to the Sun at the scene of the fire, said the fire was under control by about 9 a.m. and the building collapsed by about 8:30 a.m. at one point crews thought the fire was under control, but then the fire got away from them.
Flames were still visible from the back of the building at the time, but Collister said a backhoe pushing through the burned walls helped contain the fire and allow crews to access more of the burning area.
“We’re just trying to maintain [the fire] to enter the [nearby building] because it is a two-story structure next to a single-story structure. We’re just trying to push through it and manage it,” said Fire Capt.
Ese Wallace Auror was one of the tenants who was evacuated from the burning building. Auroror said she woke up around 3 a.m. to what she thought was the sound of a car alarm, but it was actually a smoke alarm. Shortly after, he heard loud knocks on his door and a voice saying it was the police and they needed people to evacuate due to a fire.
Brandon firefighters work to contain a large fire Monday that engulfed a building on 12th Street between Rosser and Princess avenues that housed ABC Taxi and Turning Leaf Support Services, as well as apartments. The building eventually collapsed on itself as firefighters tried to prevent the fire from spreading to other nearby buildings. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
The Auror said only having time to grab his laptop, important papers and winter jacket. He said he lost everything, including irreplaceable personal effects from his home country of Nigeria and the belongings of his wife, who lives in Nigeria.
“There’s a lot of things that are sentimental, some of my late father, some of my wife who’s not here with me in Brandon (and) some of my mom as well,” he said.
He said the apartment building had two apartment units, which housed several people, and police said they evacuated more than 10 people from the building.
Some of the tenants were taken to BPS until alternative shelter could be lined up. Auror said he was able to get temporary shelter at the Victoria Inn for three days through the Red Cross.
Auroror, who is an international student at Brandon University studying computer science, said that although he was not physically injured by the fire, the experience was emotionally difficult and he is concerned about his ability to write a test for one of his courses on Thursday.
Brandon firefighters work to contain a major fire Monday that engulfed a building on 12th Street between Rosser and Princess avenues that housed ABC Taxi and Turning Leaf Support Services, as well as apartments. The building eventually collapsed on itself as firefighters tried to prevent the fire from spreading to other nearby buildings. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
“Physically, we’re fine,” the Auror said of himself and the other tenants. “But emotionally and psychologically, we’re not.”
The building also housed two businesses: ABC Taxi and Turning Leaf, a not-for-profit charity with a staff of 16 providing support services to the community.
Turning Leaf Supervisor Jeremy Randall rushed to the scene of the fire Monday morning after learning his office was on fire from a Facebook post.
In an interview with The Sun, Turning Leaf chief operating officer Jennifer Biggs said the group’s services would continue to be provided despite the destroyed office space. Because of the organization’s digital storage system, the most important documents and information can be recovered, he said, adding that the organization is still taking stock of what was lost in the fire.
“It’s certainly a loss, for the people we support as well as the staff,” Biggs told the Sun. “So we’re doing everything we can to keep staff engaged with our head office and then we’re getting supplies in so there’s no disruption to service for the people we’re supporting.”
A large plume of smoke rises from the early morning fire at 144 12th St. in downtown Brandon. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
The Sun contacted ABC Taxi but its manager was unavailable for comment. An employee of the company, however, confirmed that the taxi service will continue to operate without interruption, and they are currently working on setting up a new location.
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The building collapsed around 8:30 a.m., but firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to other nearby buildings. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
