Clarke Street is open again.
The busy east-west thoroughfare through Port Moody reopened to traffic late Wednesday afternoon. It had been closed since Sunday evening as firefighters from Port Moody Fire & Rescue and Coquitlam Fire Rescue battled a blaze in the 2400-block of Clarke that destroyed an old grocery store that is on the city’s heritage registry as well as the Gallery Bistro. The heavy volume of water used in that effort caused a water main to burst, creating a sinkhole just across from the Queens Street plaza.
The break also disrupted water service to the immediate area.
That was restored Tuesday.
However work on the roadway continued through Wednesday, even as demolition crews began tearing down the buildings that had been razed by the fire.
Nobody was hurt, although two firefighters sustained heat stroke and another suffered a minor ankle injury. Port Moody deputy fire chief Kirk Heaven said Wednesday a cause had not yet been determined.
