The sight of fire trucks stopped on Argyle Street in downtown Halifax caused concern for those who live and work in the area Monday afternoon. Part of the worry came from firefighters needing to unlock a gate to get their equipment to the scene. “Eventually they decided they did need to get their trucks in closer to actually deal with the situation,” says Jeremy Webb, the artistic director at Neptune Theatre. He took video from his office on the second floor that shows firefighters working to open a gate on the pedestrian only street as they responded to reports of smoke at a restaurant. “When they arrived it was probably about a minute or two, a couple of minutes which doesn’t seem like a long time,” Webb says. The incident was minor, but others with businesses on the street wonder how important those extra few minutes would have been if the fire was more serious. “It’s concerning because big fire vehicles, we have a lot of bars restaurants on this street and they need to get down here quick,” says Philip Holmans, owner of the World Tea House. “We’re very fortunate that the incident at Taipan was resolved so quickly.” The traffic gates are sealed with a padlock. The CEO of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission says firefighters have a key to that lock. Paul MacKinnon adds the closing of Argyle Street was approved by first responders. “The vetting of the whole street design, when it was done in 2016 would have included fire and police and all those other city departments as well, so they did sign off on it at that time.” MacKinnon also points out the south end of the closed off sections of Argyle are open. He says a debrief to discuss yesterday’s call will be held with Halifax Fire if they think one is necessary. CTV News Atlantic reached out to both Halifax Regional Fire and their union for comment but didn’t hear back by deadline. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
