Published Jul 10, 2025Last updated 28 minutes ago5 minute readFire crews battle a fire that engulfed the former Morrison High School on Thursday in Glace Bay. Photo by IAN NATHANSON/CAPE BRETON POSTArticle contentTwo major fires broke out in Glace Bay in a span of six hours on Thursday morning.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentAt around 7:20 a.m., fire crews from a dozen stations — including the Glace Bay Fire Department — were dispatched to a blaze that engulfed the old Morrison High School (and junior high school) on May Street near Upper MacLean Street in Glace Bay.Article contentArticle contentThat followed just hours after crews put out an overnight fire at the Highland Fisheries at the corner of Main and Bell streets, where they discovered an old storage building and trailers were set ablaze.Article contentArticle contentFire Chief John Chant hesitated to say on Thursday whether the two fires may have any connection.Article content“Both fires have been turned over to the fire marshal,” Chant said. “A lot of structure fires sometimes happen one on top of another.”Article contentThe Cape Breton Post reached out to the Cape Breton Regional Police Service and its chief, Robert Walsh, for comment and whether there may be an investigation to determine any suspicious activity or any connection linked to the two fires. Calls and emails, however, were not returned by publication time.Article contentFortunately, said Chant, both buildings set ablaze were not occupied — and therefore no one was hurt in either situation.Article contentSmoke engulfed a large portion of the neighbourhood where Morrison High School was located. Several streets were either blocked off or closed to just local traffic — notably May, York, Upper and Lower MacLean streets and Catherine Street.Article contentArticle content Jim Gillard, whose house is located on Catherine Street — shown to the right of him — called 911 on Thursday morning after seeing smoke billowing from the former Morrison High School, located just in the back of his property. Photo by IAN NATHANSON/CAPE BRETON POSTArticle content‘TERRIFIED’ ABOUT LOSING HOUSEArticle contentArticle contentResidents along Catherine Street adjacent to the abandoned school had to evacuate their homes as billowing smoke blanketed their area. A quick glance discovered no visible damage to those homes.Article content“I was terrified that I was going to lose my house,” said Jim Gillard, co-owner of Studio 63 hair salon on Reserve Street. “We’ve been crusading to get that (old school) taken down for over 15 years, and we have been getting nowhere with it because we knew this was going to end this way.”Article contentThe building started out as Glace Bay High in 1914. Then in 1947, it became known as Morrison High School and operated under that name until 1989. After that year, the school was renamed Morrison Junior High School until its permanent closure in 2010.Article contentGillard said since the school closed for good, the building had been owned by the Glace Bay Y’s Men’s and Women’s Club and, previously, the International Centre for English Academic Preparation. Most recently, youth organization PUSH Basketball made use of the former high school’s facilities.Article content Heavy smoke can be scene coming from the former Morrison High School in Glace Bay on Thursday, July 10, 2025Article content‘TAKING OUR OWN INITIATIVE’Article contentHowever, with much of the building abandoned, Gillard said there were fears that one big fire could would wind up significantly damaging nearby homes — or, worse yet, allow for anyone to break into the building and be exposed to any lingering asbestos.Article content“We couldn’t get anyone to come up and do something at the time — board a window or two up, whatever. So we ended up taking our own initiative,” Gillard said.Article contentWhat is happening In Morrison High school Glace Bay 🧐🤔🤔🧐🤔🤔🤔🧐🤔Posted by Omoolorun Omo-God on Thursday, July 10, 2025Article contentArticle contentHe first noticed smoke billowing from the building around 7 a.m. Thursday. “I got up in morning to go get in the shower, looked out the back window and saw all this smoke,” he said. “I called 911 then, and at that time, when we were talking to the 911 operator, they said somebody already put a call in.”Article contentAccording to Chant, the fire gutted the building completely. There were plans in the works to have everything completely demolished and taken away from the scene by the end of the day.Article content Glace Bay volunteer fire chief John Chant: “We did a lot of training sessions to ensure that this would be seamless if a fire ever did start here.” Photo by IAN NATHANSON/CAPE BRETON POSTArticle contentPREPARED FOR SCHOOL BUILDING FIREArticle contentChant said fire crews were prepared for this event well before the actual call came through.Article content“We pre-planned for this building for the past few years,” he said. “We did a lot of training sessions to ensure that this would be seamless if a fire ever did start here, and through the co-operation of all the fire departments in the CBRM, we have put our plan together, and we are going to save a lot of homes.”Article contentArticle contentHe said the call to attend to this blaze came through around 7 a.m.Article content“Upon arrival, there was fire from the first floor through the roof,” Chant said. “We tried an interior attack. Originally, there was so much debris inside the school, that when we tried to get in to start the fire attack, there were so many obstacles in our way that we had to pull the firefighters out.Article content“And then the main concern was to get some excavators in here as quickly as possible, start carrying the building down to protect the exposures on Catherine Street.”Article contentChant said 12-13 departments attended the scene, including the New Waterford Volunteer Fire Department, along with “possibly 30 pieces of apparatus, and probably 50 to 60 firefighters.”Article content Bev MacDonald of Glace Bay watches as the former Morrison High School gets gutted by a Thursday morning fire. “It’s just sad,” she said. Photo by IAN NATHANSON/CAPE BRETON POSTArticle content‘IT’S JUST SAD’Article contentFire crews managed to get the blaze under control by later Thursday.Article contentBev MacDonald, who lives near the former school, watched the blaze occur and had mixed feelings about seeing the school she once attended crumble in front of her eyes.Article content“This was my biggest fear was this was going happen,” she said. “My heart’s broke. I spent three years here for junior high, and now my kid goes to the basketball program here. It’s just sad.”Article content“But also, this building should have been demolished years ago. Whoever was the previous owner of it, they let it get too bad, and now this is what’s happening. And our poor firemen have been out since midnight fighting the other fire. So, I mean, these guys are exhausted.”Article contentDoes she wonder if the two fires are possibly connected?Article content“Who knows? I mean, I don’t know if there was power or anything to the actual school part of the building, so I don’t know how it would have started,” she said.Article contentDavid MacKeigan, CBRM councillor for District 9, which includes the neighbourhood where the old Morrison high school was located, said having these two fires occur within a short time span has left him wondering if suspicious activity took place.Article contentArticle content“I will be calling for the police to investigate because this is too suspicious, two abandoned buildings within a few hours. Very suspicious,” he said.Article content Firefighters pump water on scene of a fire near Glace Bay Harbour early Thursday morning. Photo by JEREMY FRASER/CAPE BRETON POSTArticle contentFIRE AT FISH PLANT SITEArticle contentAs for the earlier fire at a fish plant site along the Glace Bay harbour, Chant said crews were called out just after midnight.Article content“The one at the fish plant involved eight departments, and through co-operation of those eight departments, which most of them are here (at the Morrison High blaze) we were able to save the active fish plant down there in a few hours, with minimal damage to it. And with that, we were able to protect jobs in our community.”Article content Firefighters uses a ladder truck to spray hot spots as an excavator clears the area following a fire near Glace Bay Harbour early Thursday morning. JEREMY FRASER/CAPE BRETON POST Jeremy FraserArticle contentThe fish plant building is believed to be originally owned by Hopkins Bros Fisheries, then owned by Ka’Le Bay Seafoods Ltd. later on. However, that information could not be confirmed by publication time.Article contentBell Street was closed as officials worked to contain the fire. Main Street, at the intersection of Lower North Street, was also blocked off to motorists overnight.Article content Firefighters uses a ladder truck to spray hot spots following a fire near Glace Bay Harbour on Thursday morning. JEREMY FRASER/CAPE BRETON POST Jeremy FraserArticle contentThe cause of the fire or any injuries were unknown at publication time. An excavator was on scene clearing the area shortly after 3 a.m.Article contentArticle contentArticle content— With files from Jeremy FraserArticle content
‘My heart’s broke’: Back-to-back Glace Bay fires gut former Morrison High School and storage building, trailers at fish plant site
