Several businesses were damaged or destroyed after a fire broke out overnight at a strip mall in southeast Edmonton.
Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said reports of a commercial structure fire at 34 Avenue and 92 Street began coming in at 12:34 a.m. Tuesday.
Fire crews arrived six minutes later and quickly called in more crews to help battle the two-alarm fire at the Plaza 34 strip mall.
The fire was brought under control at 2:08 a.m., but crews remained at the scene overnight and into the morning working to make sure the flames were extinguished.
Around a dozen businesses were heavily damaged or destroyed, including an ethnic grocery store, a hair salon, a dress store, a restaurant and several professional offices.
Mitch Carr has operated an orthodontics lab on the second floor of the strip mall for nearly three decades and said this is the first time he’s dealt with a fire.
“I actually got a text at about around five, quarter to five this morning, but it didn’t make sense. It was all broken up,” he said, adding he thought it was a scam at first.
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“I thought I’d come in and see what’s happening. I was going to start early anyway. ”
Carr’s business is on the other end of the building from where the fire appears to have started, so he was hopeful he could get back into his business soon.
“All I’m concerned about is getting into the office and and getting my work done.”
Carr said most businesses in the plaza don’t open until 9 a.m. and EFRS said there were no reports of injuries.
The cause of the fire and the cost of the damage have yet to be determined.
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