The city of Ottawa tore down the remains of a building destroyed by a three-alarm blaze in Chinatown Wednesday.

Fire crews were called to the two-storey brick Caribbean Flavours restaurant building on Somerset Street near Rochester Street just before 5 a.m., said acting district fire chief Capt. Glenn Dolan.

The city of Ottawa tore down the remains of the Caribbean Flavours restaurant building after it was gutted by fire Wednesday morning.
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"When they arrived, the flames [had] totally engulfed the second floor. They made a primary search of the first floor — nobody found," he said, adding that no one was hurt in the blaze.

More than 50 firefighters brought the fire under control before 8 a.m., but the flames continued to damage the building. Its floors collapsed and it was completely gutted by noon.

The building's fragile shell was at risk of falling down, so city crews began tearing it down.

Dolan estimated the damage from the fire to be around $500,000 and said investigators were trying to determine the cause of the blaze.

Owner plans to reopen restaurant

The owner of Caribbean Flavours, Frederick White, said he had been looking forward to hosting a close friend's birthday party at the restaurant Thursday night.

"I don't even know how I feel," he said Wednesday afternoon while standing outside the remains of the building.

The Caribbean Flavours restaurant was on the main floor of the building that caught fire. No one was in the apartments above and no one was hurt.
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"I'm just here thinking that where did this come from and what caused it…? This week I was going to be very busy, so I'm sure these people are very disappointed."

White, a chef from the island of Montserrat, left a job in the technology sector to open the restaurant in 2002. The eatery served traditional Caribbean dishes such as kingfish steaks, curried goat and rotis.

White said he plans to reopen the restaurant with the same staff under the same name.

Neighbours evacuated

Meanwhile, nine people, including a child, were evacuated from adjacent buildings.

Salvation Army spokesman Tom Sidney said Wednesday that his organization and the Red Cross were providing the families with hotel accommodation, food and clothing until they can return to their homes, which were flooded with water used to fight the fire. Electricity and heat in the buildings were also affected. Sidney said the families will likely go home Thursday.

OC Transpo reported that buses began running again on Somerset Street late Wednesday evening after being rerouted around Somerset between Booth Street and Bronson Avenue for most of the day while city crews tried to repair a broken water main that was believed to be related to the fire.