It’s a tragic end of an era for Sackville residents after a fire late Friday morning destroyed one of the area’s landmark restaurants.
A blaze broke out at around 9:30 a.m. at Joey’s Pizza, Pasta, Bar & Grill, a short distance away from Mount Allison University, in downtown Sackville.
Posts on social media show firefighters from Sackville, Memramcook, Dorchester and Amherst, N.S., dowsing the York Street restaurant with water.
The Municipality of Tantramar issued a traffic noticed on its Facebook page early Friday afternoon, asking residents to avoid the area as traffic was slowing the work of firefighters.
Megan Mitton, the MLA for Memramcook-Tantramar, said in a post on Twitter that the fire also posed a risk to some apartments housing in the same building as the restaurant.
“Not clear what the damage is so far, but my heart goes out to everyone impacted,” she wrote.
NB News Now could not immediately confirm how many people were affected by the blaze.
“Our hearts are heavy today,” reads a Facebook post from Joey’s Pizza, Pasta, Bar & Grill, which has been a landmark in Sackville since it opened in 1988.
“It’s because of the love and support from the community that we’ve been able to serve you for the past 35 years. We can’t thank everybody enough for all the love and support we’ve continued to receive today.”
The restaurant’s post thanked first responders for coming together to bring the fire until control and expressed gratitude that there were no injuries and apartment tenants made it out of the building.
“As we navigate this difficult transition one thing is for sure, we will keep the spirit of Joey’s alive as we move forward one day at a time,” the post said.
According to a Twitter thread posted at 2:35 p.m., officials with Mount Allison University said staff will work through the weekend to provide support for those directly and indirectly impacted by the fire.
Officials also said students can gather on its campus and added anyone directly or indirectly impacted by the fire may go to the on-campus dining hall for free meals and snacks.
Mount Allison has also set up an intake centre in the on-campus chapel’s basement, which will collect donations for those affected.
Items that can be donated include clothing, personal hygiene items and gift cards.
There is still no official word on how the fire started.