All that remains of Golden Hills Grocery in downtown Princeton. Fire Chief John Larsen says that an excavator was used to knock the building down to assist with fighting the fire and to keep the site safe for crews working the blaze.

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A historic building on the second block of Bridge Street in Princeton burned to the ground overnight, according to Princeton Mayor Frank Armitage.

The fire was reported at 11:20 p.m. Friday and firefighters from several area departments, including Princeton and Keremeos, fought it until early morning.

“It is quite a loss and we can’t afford to lose any our downtown buildings,” said Armitage.

For years the building was Cameron’s grocery, a family business, which then became Golden Hills Grocery.

In addition to the building burning to the ground, there was water damage to three houses immediately behind the store.

The RCMP is currently investigating the cause of the fire, according to the mayor.