SAINT JOHN - A backhoe clawed into the roof a fire-damaged north end building Wednesday morning, scraping away layers of siding, wood and filth.
With every dig of the backhoe's arm, the old apartment building was reduced the rubble.
"It should have been gone long ago," said Allan Manuel, a neighbour watching the demolition from the street, as Gulf Operators workers monitored the falling debris.
"It's pretty spooky when you look out your window and see the building next door on fire."
The demolition of 16 Elgin St. - a vacant building plagued by several suspicious fires over the past couple of years - was the start of some "tough love" from the Saint John Fire Department.
It was one of the first buildings to be demolished as a result of a fire marshal's order, powers the fire department has just started to enforce in an effort to tackle the dangerous vacant buildings in the city.
"That's what we're using now is tough love," said Gerald Green, the district fire chief of fire prevention.
Up till now, the fire department has encouraged property owners to fix up their derelict buildings, and was hesitant to issue orders. Not any more.
As agents of the provincial fire marshal, Green said he and his officers have issued six notices for dangerous vacant buildings to be demolished in Saint John.
A building at 287 Charlotte St. in the south end was the first, and Green says there will be more orders to come.
The fire department is carefully monitoring a list of 120 vacant buildings in the city, and it has real concerns for about 25 to 30 of them, he said.
"You don't want to see things being demolished. I'd rather see things being built," he said.
"But from the fire department's perspective, we're just trying to keep people safe, and we're trying to do our small part to revitalize the community we all live in here."
Vacant building fires are not only dangerous for buildings in close proximity, but for the firefighters working in unstable conditions.
Once the department issues a fire marshal's order, the property owner has a right to appeal it, as one owner has done with a Bryden Street apartment, also in the north end. If the fire marshal upholds the ruling, and the owner still doesn't comply, the issue can go before a provincial court judge.
But so far, all the property owners have complied, paying for the demolitions themselves, Green said.
Some have even demolished buildings without being ordered to - including developer John Rocca, who took down his property at the corner of Golding and Waterloo streets, Green said. Another building came down on Albert Street Wednesday with no prodding from the fire department.
"People are realizing they need to do something," he said. "They own these buildings and they need to do something with them."
The recent push on using the Fire Prevention Act and fire marshal's orders to demolish buildings came after Local Government Minister Bruce Fitch encouraged city officials to use powers they already have to deal with the dangerous, vacant buildings.
Common council has been pressuring the provincial Conservatives to pass stronger legislation that would broaden the definition of what derelict buildings could be torn down. But there are no guarantees on when it could hit the legislature floor.
As the number of fires in vacant buildings continue to climb, the fire department realized it had to act.
"There was no teeth, and that was our fault," Green said. "We had these tools, but we weren't using them."
He said when Fitch encouraged use of the Fire Prevention Act, that was when Green felt "a kick in the pants" to end the warnings and start issuing orders.
Coun. Peter McGuire, a proponent of the city's stronger derelict buildings bylaw, said it's "outstanding" to see the buildings come down.
"When you put good people in the same direction you get results," he said. "I'm extremely pleased. ... It's not an issue of who wins or how quickly."
The real victory, he said, will be to see those vacant lots redeveloped with new construction.
Coun. Donnie Snook said he was pleased to see the movement from the fire department because he has been talking to the department about how it could help.
"Our focus has been new legislation, but clearly there's a role here for the fire department as well in addressing these buildings," he said.
Meanwhile, the fire department continues to monitor "hundreds" of other dangerous, inhabited apartment buildings. The fire officials will also be writing more fire marshal's orders related to violations in those buildings as well, Green said.
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