Firefighters stamp out east end fire, while another still burns in Mount Pearl

After hours of work, firefighters have managed to put out a fire in the east end of St. John's on Monday, but a blaze is still burning in nearby Mount Pearl.

Platoon Chief Mike Hall told CBC News the first call of a fire came in around 4:45 a.m. NT for a fire in the Pleasantville area of St. John's. Then, around 6 a.m., firefighters were called to the scene of an industrial fire that had erupted at a welding shop on Kyle Avenue in Mount Pearl's Donovans Industrial Park.

"I'm in this department now over 31 years and I think this is the first time I've ever seen two at one time within the span of an hour, a major structure fire that's going to consume, like, basically all the resources of the city, you know, in the period of an hour and a half," Hall said Monday afternoon.

He said about 20 firefighters are on the Kyle Avenue fire.

"When they arrived on scene they had explosions, gases of acetylene tanks that were erupting inside the structure. So it taxed the resources of the department," said Hall.

"The only way we can get at it to actually put this thing out once and for all is to bring in an excavator and start peeling off the steel membrane on the roof."

Once the roof is removed, crews will be able to use water and foam to put out the flame, he said.

"If not, we'd be back there for days," said Hall.

The St. John's fire was at a townhouse, located at 27 and 29 Janeway Place. Hall said the home was still under construction.

He said two stations initially responded to the scene, but then when they arrived they realized an additional third station was needed. Ultimately, Hall said, 20 firefighters and officers were working on the scene.

The fire is now out and crews have since left. Investigators remain on the scene.

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.