The Kamloops Fire Chief says a derelict building on 91 West Seymour Street that went up in flames on Friday morning will need to be demolished.

Ken Uzeloc says it will be up to the property owner to do that work on the building, which was cleared out in October last year due to safety concerns.

“The roof structure has gone, the whole inside of the building has been burned away,” Uzeloc told Radio NL. “It won’t be safe and again it could potentially be something that would, if its left in the condition it is, attract people to come and shelter there.”

It is not clear what caused last week’s fire, but Uzeloc says the property owner had already addressed some of the issues that were identified by KFR, when it ordered the building closed last year.

“The actual fire alarm system was going off in the building, so that part was done,” Uzeloc said. “But then there was still some building construction, plumbing work, some other work that would have to be ongoing until that building was in a state of occupancy again.”

Uzeloc says KFR will work to ensure that the building – which was formerly a men’s rooming house known as Weiser House – is demolished as quickly as possible, to keep squatters away.

“You’re not going to be able to go in and fix that building from where it is right now,” he said. “It is pretty much going to have to be torn down and it would have to be started over from the foundation up again, most likely.”