A nightmare cross-border trip, a devastating fire and Ryan Reynolds' interest in the Sens: Top 5 stories in Ottawa this week

A trip of a lifetime becomes a nightmare, a scary situation at a local high school, and a beloved celebrity takes interest in the Sens.

CTVNewsOttawa.ca takes a look at the top five stories on website this week.

Trip to Buffalo Bills game turns into nightmare after bus impounded

It was supposed to be a fun-filled excursion for a group of football fans to see a Buffalo Bills home game.

Instead, it turned into a disaster-filled trip that saw their bus impounded in the U.S., leaving them to find their own way back across the Canada-U.S. border.

What Rob Blackburn wanted and expected for his first-time NFL game experience was an excitement-fuelled two days which included a tailgate party and watching the Bills take on the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 30.

“Everything was good until the bus showed up," he said.

The 35-seater bus drove passengers to Niagara Falls on a six-hour trip that included no bathroom stops, no air conditioning and exhaust fumes filling the cabin.

When the bus got to the U.S., it was inspected and impounded because of a gash in the tire and no U.S. certification. Passengers had to take taxis or even walk across the border to get back to Canada.

Rob Blackburn paid hundreds of dollars for a trip to an NFL game which turned out to be a nightmare experience. Ottawa, Ont.. Nov. 9, 2022. (Tyler Fleming / CTV News).

Ryan Reynolds confirms interest in buying Ottawa Senators

Ryan Reynolds has confirmed his interest in becoming an owner of the Ottawa Senators.

The Deadpool star told The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Monday that he's interested in becoming part of a consortium of owners that would buy the team.

"I love Ottawa," he said. "I spent a long time in Vanier there, which is a little town inside Ottawa."

A day after his Tonight Show appearance, Reynolds flew to Ottawa and watched the Senators take on his hometown Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. The actor got a warm ovation from the crowd and sat in a box with Senators officials, including vice-president of business operations Chris Phillips.

The Senators confirmed last week that the team is for sale, and that a condition of any deal for the franchise would be that it remains in Ottawa. People magazine reported last week that Reynolds was interested in buying the team.

CHEO opens second ICU amid 'unprecedented' crisis

CHEO has opened a second pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) to address an overflow of critically ill babies and young children with respiratory illnesses.

The hospital is dealing with a never-before-seen influx of children with illnesses including RSV, COVID-19, flu and other viruses.

CHEO had previously added beds to its existing PICU. The new unit makes five more beds available to children and youth. The space has been temporarily reassigned from CHEO's surgical day unit.

The hospital is experiencing more than double its normal volume of younger patients, leading to longer emergency room wait times.

Four people arrested after gun call to Ottawa high school

Ottawa police arrested four people at an Ottawa high school on Monday after receiving a call that a student at the school may have been in possession of a gun.

Police have scaled back their presence at the Ottawa Technical Secondary School and a lockdown has been lifted. No weapon was recovered, police said.

A spokesman for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board said the lockdown was put in place to support the police investigation into reports that a student could be in possession of a weapon.

"Students and staff were safely secured in their classrooms and the lockdown was lifted after approximately an hour," spokesperson Darcy Knoll said in a statement. "No students or staff were harmed."

It is unclear if the people arrested were students.

Ottawa police arrested four people after an "active investigation" prompted Ottawa Technical Secondary School to go into lockdown on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. (Submitted photo)

Devastating fire destroys popular Manotick gingerbread shop

A devastating fire has destroyed one of Manotick's most charming shops, just as its busiest season gets underway.

Flames tore through The Gingerbread Man on Tighe Street early Friday morning. The walls inside the 20-year-old shop now covered in soot and the kitchen destroyed.

"It couldn’t have come at a worse time," Palframan said. "The next six weeks makes our year so I don’t know what we’re going to do," said owner Richard Palframan, who was on the second floor of the house when the fire started.

Donations have been pouring in and a GoFundMe page has been set up to support the store. While Palframan may not know yet what started the fire, he hopes to rebuild the home soon and continue serving families for generations to come.

The Gingerbread Man owner Richard Palframan chats with a customer after a fire damaged his Manotick store on Friday. (Jackie Perez/CTV News Ottawa)