After a long day and plenty of water, fire crews were able to contain a four-alarm blaze at a restaurant in the ByWard Market on Friday.
The fire began in the morning at Vittoria Trattoria on William Street, an Italian eatery in the popular downtown hub.
BYWARD UPDATE: 4th alarm confirmed at 1:06. Defensive Operations still underway. No reported injuries. Persons are asked to avoid area. Stay out of smoke path & do not drive vehicles over hose lines #ottnews #otttraffic pic.twitter.com/1248OgupHi
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— Ottawa Fire Services (@OttFire) April 12, 2019
Ottawa Fire Services chief Kim Ayotte confirmed via Twitter just after 3 p.m. that the fire had been contained. No injuries or casualties have been reported.
More than 20 rigs were reportedly on-scene throughout the day to help quell the blaze. Photos from the scene showed thick black smoke billowing from the roof of the grey brick building. Surrounding businesses were evacuated as a safety precaution.
Ottawa Markets, which runs operations at both the ByWard and Parkdale markets, asked businesses at 55 ByWard Market Square to avoid opening up shop until at least 10 a.m. on Saturday in cooperation with recovery efforts by the city’s emergency services. The organization’s Twitter account said the buildings at 55 ByWard Market and 70 Clarence St. appeared undamaged by the fire.
The ByWard Market BIA thanked Ottawa Fire Services and Ottawa police for their quick response on Friday and that it looked forward to resuming business in the affected area soon.
– With files from OBJ staff