Firefighters battled a fire at the vacant Turner building on Richmond Road in Victoria on Saturday afternoon.

Smoke was rising out of the two-storey building when firefighters were sent to fight the blaze just before 3:45 p.m. It took just under two hours to extinguish.

No one was injured and there were no evacuations, said Victoria Fire Department Battalion Chief John Kirkendale while standing outside the building.

Kirkendale said the fire was mostly contained to a second floor area facing Fort Street.

He said crews cut open trenches in the roof with chainsaws to access an 18-inch void space between the ceiling and the roof to fight the fire and allow smoke to escape.

Two blocks of Richmond Road from Fort Street to Coronation Avenue were closed to vehicles so that firefighters could do their work.

A birthday party for someone who turned 90 at the Amica Jubilee House across the street was able to continue without incident.

No official cause of Saturday’s fire has been released.

City spokesperson Colleen Mycroft said that a nearby sidewalk on Richmond Road will continue to be closed following the fire.

Firefighters remained on scene after the fire to monitor hotspots.

The long-vacant Turner building with its distinctive rounded frontage at 2002 Richmond Rd. last caught on fire on Jan. 16.

The building, built in 1946, once housed the popular Ian’s Jubilee Coffee Shop, but has been vacant for more than two decades.

Formerly a convenience store and a flower shop with apartments on the second floor, the property is assessed at $1.7 million.

Victoria council voted last year in favour of replacing the aging building with a six-storey rental and retail project that would include a new plaza.

The project, proposed by Victoria-based Empresa Properties, would have a rounded end and art-deco style, with amenity space on the roof, 55 residential rental units and three commercial units on the ground floor.

The project is planned for three lots, creating a parcel bordered by Richmond Road and Birch and Pembroke streets.

There was an earlier attempt to redevelop, but a plan drawn up by architect and former Victoria mayor Alan Lowe did not proceed and the building was boarded up.

The building was threatened with demolition in 2013 after a section of wall fell off and crashed to the sidewalk.

According to B.C. Assessment, the property is owned by Island Cardiology Holdings Ltd.

It last changed hands on Dec. 13, 2013 for $1.4 million.