Crews extinguish multiple fires at abandoned Halifax school in one week

Halifax crews had to extinguish several fires at an abandoned north end school in the last week.

In the last week Halifax firefighters have extinguished multiple fires at an abandoned school in the city’s north end.

According to a news release from the Halifax Professional Fire Fighters, crews responded to a fire on the second floor of the vacant St. Patrick’s-Alexandra School on Maitland Street last Wednesday.

They returned to the building four days later to put out two fires on the third floor.

“Our members are trained and ready to respond, but each of these calls introduces serious risks — not only to fire fighters, but to members of the public who may be inside or near these properties,” the Halifax Professional Fire Firefighters said in the release. “Derelict buildings are not just urban decay — they are high-hazard zones.”

St. Patrick’s-Alexandra School, which originally opened to students in 1921, has been empty since 2010. Its future is in limbo as two years ago JONO Developments Ltd., which purchased the property, shelved its plans after it couldn’t reach an agreement with the municipality about what should be built there.

The building was sold to JONO for $3.6 million in April 2020. A declassified report from the municipality says the property is subject to a buyback agreement that requires construction start on the site within five years of the purchase, which would be in two weeks.

The St. Patrick’s-Alexandra School fire comes a little more than a month after a fire broke out at the abandoned Bloomfield School in the north end. One building was destroyed in the incident.

Bloomfield has been abandoned since 2014 and developer BANC bought it from the municipality for nearly $22 million in 2020. That purchase also included the five-year construction start date deadline.

In late February, Halifax council voted unanimously for a report into the municipality’s options with the Bloomfield site, including a timeline for the demolition of the remaining structures and cost recovery.

Halifax Mayor Andy Filmore confirmed with CTV News Atlantic that the demolition of the rest of the Bloomfield site is expected to be finished by the end of summer.

“The owner offered to demolish the remaining buildings this summer and fence the area,” he said.

-With files from CTV Atlantic’s Callum Smith

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