Kitchener Fire investigating after blaze on Benton Street

Crews from the Kitchener Fire Department remain on scene this morning following a substantial blaze in downtown Kitchener. 

That fire saw crews responding around 6:20 p.m. with a “full response” on Saturday evening to the area of Benton Street and Courtland Avenue, as firefighters battled a fire in a nine-unit building. 

According to the Waterloo Regional Police Service, Kitchener Hydro crews had to momentarily deactivate power in the area to allow Kitchener Fire to safely contain the blaze, at one point leaving more than one-thousand customers in that neighbourhood in the dark. Power has since been restored in that area.

Regional police have also closed Queen Street from Courtland Avenue to Church Street, and St. George Street from Benton Street to Cedar Street South as a result of that fire. As of Sunday morning, those roadways still remain barricaded as Kitchener Fire continues their investigation.

As crews rotated through the night to control the blaze, staff from Kitchener Fire have indicated that the building “appears to be a full loss” – and while the investigation is still ongoing into the fire's cause, damage is expected to be pegged at upward of one-million dollars.

Both Kitchener Fire & regional police have indicated that no injuries to residents or firefighters are being reported as a result of that blaze.