Firefighters brought a fire under control in downtown St. John's on Monday morning. Flames could be seen from the top floor and roof of Ballistic, a popular skateboard and snowboard store on Water Street. Crews were able to contain the fire to the building, which suffered substantial damages on its second and third storeys. Adjacent businesses Home on Water Street and Annika's suffered minor smoke and water damage and are expected to re-open in a day or two.

The fire was reported at about 4:30 a.m., and tenants of apartments in the block were forced to leave their homes. However, crews were able to vent the building so that the fire burned upwards, and not to adjacent buildings.

"They got the fire out," said Wyatt. "I just got a bit of smoke and water damage. I'm just glad the fire department did a really good job."

"I was just shaking," said Connie Thompson, the landlord of apartments just two doors away from the blaze.

"I was just worried about the tenants, just getting them out, because it can happen so fast. If it [had] been windy, it would have been a lot worse. So thank God – I just prayed to St. Jude that they would be OK."

Employee Evelyn Dray said she couldn't believe her eyes, and said the timing couldn't be worse with the busy Christmas season gearing up.

"[It's] pretty crazy to see Ballistic burned down because it's such a popular store in Newfoundland … that's where every kid shops, pretty much," said Dray.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is investigating, but there's no word yet on what caused the fire.

Police closed sections of Water and Duckworth streets while crews tackled the fire.

Excerpt CBC Radio Monday, Nov 14, 2005