Saint John fire crews spent several hours bringing an uptown building fire under control on Christmas Day.
Emergency crews were called to a multi-storey building in the 100-block of Union Street over the noon hour on Wednesday.
Platoon Chief Craig Melvin said crews were met with heavy fire and smoke coming from the building, which is attached to The Max Pub.
Melvin said firefighters fought the fire from inside the building for several hours but were eventually pulled out over safety concerns.
Every fire truck in the city was on the scene at one point, he said, with overtime crews also called in to help fight the flames.
Melvin said it took firefighters about eight to 10 hours to bring the fire under control, noting they were still battling hotspots on Boxing Day morning.
Crews managed to keep the fire from spreading to any other buildings, he said.
Power had to be disconnected to several hundred Saint John Energy customers while crews fought the fire.
Melvin noted the building was vacant with no power but there were likely squatters in and out of it.
The same building was the site of a smaller fire a couple of weeks ago, he added.
Melvin said a number of firefighters suffered minor injuries while battling the blaze.
Fire crews are waiting for an engineer report to determine if the building is safe to remain standing.
