The Irish Embassy bar on Bishop St. was severely damaged in an early morning five-alarm fire on Saturday.

Firefighters received a call at 5:20 a.m. reporting smoke coming out of the building’s third floor. When they arrived, the third floor was completely engulfed in fire.

"The fire started on the third floor of the same building as the Irish Embassy pub," said fire department chief of operations Danny Ciavaglia. "The damage is extensive to the three-story building."

Ciavaglia said while the third floor was totally destroyed, it was unclear if the rest of the building would be salvageable. 

"The way a building is designed and the materials used will all affect the way a fire will spread throughout a building," said Ciavaglia. "Seeing as this one was very old and probably renovated numerous amounts of times made it very difficult to open up and make sure the fire is out."

More than 150 firefighters were deployed to the scene. One firefighter was taken to hospital with injuries but Ciavaglia said their life did not appear to be in danger. 

The fire spread to two buildings north of the bar and 10 people were evacuated and are being tended to by the Red Cross. 

Red Cross spokesperson Stephanie Picard said seven of those people have been given housing, food and clothing to help them through the next few days, but said she expected the rest to be in touch within the day. 

"Everybody goes through this differently but it's very difficult," she said. "You're eating breakfast, or you're still sleeping, you get woken up by the fire department who do a great job of getting you out of your home but you're out on the street, it's cold and you don't know where you're going to be sleeping that night."

Michel Desjardins, who lives across the street from the bar, said he was woken by his dog barking.

“I could see an orange and red reflection in my window, so I went out,” he said. “You could see flames coming out of the windows on the second floor, it was really blazing hard.”

Firefighters said they have yet to determine the cause of the fire.

Police have closed off Bishop St. and said it’s likely the road will remain closed for most of the day.