UPDATE: Downtown building engulfed in flames was popular spot for squatters

Angela England saw the massive black plumes of smoke in the sky all the way from the window of her home on East Street Wednesday morning.

“I hope there’s no one up there,” she said, watching the blaze at 647 Queen Street East while firefighters worked to knock down the fire at the historic downtown building that once housed the Silly Rabbit Vape Shop. 

A neighbour who lives on the same block as the burning building — who spoke with SooToday on the condition of anonymity — said they’ve been terrified of the potential for a squatter setting a fire there after seeing squatters in the building. 

“I knew it. I just knew it,” they said. 

Firefighters responded to the massive blaze Wednesday morning, as officers blocked traffic on Queen Street East from East Street to Brock Street and members of the public gathered to watch the structure fire rip through the upstairs portion of the vacant building. 

It’s currently unclear what the cause of the fire was. Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services Deputy Chief Naomi Thibault said there have been no civilian or firefighter injuries reported. Firefighters remain on scene conducting overhaul operations. 

"An origin and cause investigation cannot commence until after firefighters have completed all operations and the scene is safe for investigators," Thibault said.

Asim Bhatti, who is also the president and sole director of the property owner, Asimco Textiles, told SooToday he had recently started a costly renovation project at the building the week before that would see the construction of five new rental units, after acquiring all of the necessary permits. 

The company had completed all of the necessary environmental reports, along with engineer drawings that had been drafted and provided to the municipality. Bhatti said there was a crew of labourers doing on-site work yesterday to renovate the building, working into the late hours of Tuesday night.   

Bhatti stressed that squatters have been an ongoing issue at the property, and that yet another squatter was spotted in the building at approximately 3 a.m. Wednesday, hours before firefighters arrived to battle the blaze.   

“We are dumbfounded,” said Bhatti. “We have tried and tried to get squatters out of the building, and we have tried to deal with the police to keep squatters out of the building.

“The homelessness issue in Sault Ste. Marie is so massive — even in our buildings that are fully secured and have tenants in there.”

A caretaker for the property who wished to remain anonymous also told SooToday that he had cleaned up remnants of other fires started in the Queen Street East building on a handful of occasions leading up to Wednesday's massive blaze.

“They’ve busted every window. They’ve taken every piece of copper, every piece of wire out of the walls,” he said of the squatters. “They took sinks, they took appliances — everything. Everybody’s hands are tied.”

Bhatti said city officials “need to change their viewpoint” on housing and homelessness, and have to figure out how to give police more “actionable power to be able to deal with this.” 

The landlord said similar issues with squatters have plagued his other property, a 23-unit apartment building located at 138 East Street.  

“We have to go through a tribunal, which lasts six months to get a hearing — and we’re sitting there with a unit that we can’t rent for six months because the police can’t remove an illegal person,” Bhatti said. 

Last year, Bhatti was slapped with $95,000 in fines stemming from a number of fire code violations. He has since appealed those fines, claiming that he has a paper trail showing annual fire inspections as evidence of his company’s compliance with provincial fire code regulations.   

As previously reported by SooToday, Asimco Textiles owed more than $164,000 in total unpaid fines under the Provincial Offences Act for property-related infractions in Sault Ste. Marie dating back to 2018.  

But Bhatti said that 138 East Street has undergone a series of upgrades that have resulted in fully renovated rental units at the building, along with increased security via reinforced security doors. He said the municipality should be helping landlords who are plagued by squatters instead of working against them.  

“You’ve got a homelessness situation in this city, and you have a massive amount of availability when it comes to these buildings — all they need to do is be fixed, and you solve the problem,” said Bhatti. “And yet, instead of helping the building owners, they’re penalizing them and taking them to court.”

The massive fire on Queen Street East Wednesday was the last straw for the frustrated property owner. “You know, I own buildings everywhere else in Ontario — and I will never, ever, ever buy a building in Sault Ste. Marie again, or a property,” Bhatti said.

The following live video is courtesy WirelessCom: