City of Victoria is urging people to stay away from the downtown core this morning due to a structure fire at the Plaza Hotel, as the air quality is poor due to smoke continuing to billow from the ongoing blaze.
The fire broke out shortly after 5:00 a.m. Monday morning in an abandoned building which formerly housed Monty’s Showroom, at the intersection of Government and Pandora Streets.
All surrounding roads have been closed, including the 600-block of Pandora, the 1400-block of Government Street and Johnson Street.
Smoke can still be seen billowing out of the building as fire crews work to extinguish the blaze, and there have been several reports of the poor air quality and even falling debris as a result of the fire.
There have been no reports of injuries, and the cause of the fire is still unknown.
More to come.
A crowd of onlookers observe as @VictoriaFire730 crews battle major fire at the old Plaza Hotel on Goverment and Pandora. The fire broke out at approximately 5am this morning and the @CityOfVictoria has since issued an air quality warning due to smoke #yyj #yyjnews pic.twitter.com/pMusulHk8q
— Brishti Basu (@brish_ti) May 6, 2019
The smoke shows no signs of slowing down as crews enter their 4th hour of battling a major structure fire at Pandora and Government pic.twitter.com/WgNVvWxwgD
— Brishti Basu (@brish_ti) May 6, 2019
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156956015066011&set=p.10156956015066011&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10161720649680593&set=p.10161720649680593&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156607602409086&set=p.10156607602409086&type=3&theater
Air quality downtown is poor at this time due to structure fire at Plaza Hotel. Please stay a safe distance away #yyj #yyjtraffic pic.twitter.com/i49b75M2Bn
— City of Victoria (@CityOfVictoria) May 6, 2019
Due to poor air quality & lack of access as roads are closed due to the fire at the Plaza Hotel (Government & Pandora) Victoria City Hall is CLOSED for the day. Please continue to avoid the area & stay tuned for updates #yyj #yyjtraffic pic.twitter.com/ge2Sj69wt0
— City of Victoria (@CityOfVictoria) May 6, 2019
