Intense blaze keeps firefighters at bay: Chief

An early-morning fire that gutted two downtown buildings was so intense firefighters couldn’t enter the structures.Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services was called to the 200 block of Queen Street East at about 4 a.m.Firefighters could see “intense flames” en route to the blaze near Dennis Street.“(They) tried to make entry, but the fire was so intense they had to back off and go to defensive mode,” Chief Peter Johnson told The Sault Star at the scene.No one was injured an