Fire scene the day after – photo 250News

Prince George, B.C.-  Fire investigators will be on scene today and through much of the weekend, looking for  the cause of Wednesday night’s blaze on Third Avenue.The scene of the fire on the 1200 block of Third Avenue in downtown Prince George, has been secured, and security guards are ensuring no one has unauthorized access to the site.

Wednesday evening two buildings were lost to flames, destroying  the  business known as Homework, and the  building that was being renovated for a new restaurant  next to Nancy O’s.

The popular Nancy O’s  suffered  smoke damage, but there is no damage estimate  yet for the other two buildings that were immediately east of  Nancy O’s.

The fire was the  latest in a string of  blazes which have leveled  older buildings in the downtown core.  Over the past decade, buildings lost to fire include, Erics World of Leisure on  Quebec Street,  the Columbus Hotel on Third,  B and B music on George Street, an antique store on  George Street,  the London Hotel on Third,  and a building  at the corner of Brunswick and Second.

All of the buildings were vintage, and Fire Chief John Iverson says  the  common denominator may only be their age and outdated building codes.  “Many  of the buildings didn’t have fire break walls,  and their age means they  were not built to  modern  construction codes.”  Chief Iverson  says  while it may not be practical for  property owners to  retrofit their buildings to  modern building codes,  having proper , working and inspected sprinkler  systems would be a positive start.