Fire consumed a building on Main Street East in Hawkesbury on Tuesday, February 14.

According to Hawkesbury Fire Department Captain Julien Boisvenue, the first 911 call was received at 4:02 p.m. about a fire at 695 Main Street East, which was formerly Depanneur J’os. The convenience store had closed in 2022 and the space had recently reopened as a combination snack bar and e-bike shop.

The two-level building also included apartments. As of late Wednesday morning, Boisvenue did not know how many residents were affected by the fire, but fortunately, no one was hurt.

“Nobody was injured,” Boisvenue said.

He said the fire was highly visible when it began, and several calls were received.

“Flames were showing.”

Other fire departments arrived to assist at the scene and supplement Hawkesbury’s single aerial truck.

“Lachute was here because of their aerial truck,” Boisvenue said.

Grenville village, Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, and Brownsburg-Chatham fire departments also assisted the Hawkesbury fire department. The East Hawkesbury Fire Department covered calls in all four of those municipalities while their departments were occupied with the Main Street East fire.

The cause of the fire was still under investigation as of noon on Wednesday, February 15. Boisvenue said the building will likely be a total loss.

“The whole roof collapsed,” he said.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, February 14, the store front portion of the building appeared severely damaged within an hour of the fire starting. Heavy smoke was billowing out of the upper level of the building. Firefighters used the aerial ladder to open a hole in the roof using pickaxes and a chainsaw. Later in the evening, part of the brick façade on the front of the building had collapsed.

Firefighters remained at the scene throughout the night and into the following day. Main Street East in Hawkesbury was closed to traffic between John Street and Hamilton Street.