Basement fire on Race Street

Two police cruisers are stationed outside an apartment building on Race Street on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 after a fire late Monday night. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)

CORNWALL – Cornwall police were holding the scene Tuesday morning of a basement fire at an apartment building on Race Street.

A number of tenants were forced out of the building after the fire started late Monday night at 31 Race Street – a large boxy building with blue siding.

The multi-plex, which looks like it has three or four apartment units, sits on the northwest corner of Race Street and Bergin Avenue.

Two police cruisers were stationed outside around 9 a.m. and one officer could be seen speaking to someone inside through the smashed out basement windows on the side of the building facing Bergin Avenue.

Shards of glass and other debris lay outside a basement window of a Race Street apartment building after a fire on Monday, April 13, 2020. The Cornwall Police Service was holding the scene Tuesday morning. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)

One man, presumably a tenant, spoke with the police officer before briefly going inside one of the units in the back of the building.

Police spokesman Stephanie MacRae says two separate investigations – one by the fire department and one by the police – are ongoing. “We are still in the early stages of the investigation and will provide more details at a later time,” MacRae told Cornwall Newswatch.

Cornwall Fire Services officials were not immediately available for comment.