EDMONTON – A fire that damaged an Edmonton bridal store early Friday morning was deliberately set and caused an estimated $450,000 in damages.
Edmonton Fire Rescue Services were called to ABC Weddings – located at 104 Street and 118 Avenue – around 2:30 a.m. and had the fire under control by 3 a.m. It was declared out by 4 a.m.
A cyclist who was passing by and saw smoke and flames coming from a back door called emergency crews.
When they arrived, crews found heavy smoke in the building but were able to keep the fire under control and contained.
“I got a call at my house at three o’clock this morning and arrived on site to see the fire department here,” said ABC Weddings owner Wayne Demkiw. “I think they had four or five trucks down.”
Edmonton Fire Rescue says there were a total of six units and 24 firefighters on scene.
Officials say the fire caused extensive damage to the property and the contents of the business.
Property damage is estimated at $50,000 and the damages to contents is estimated at $400,000.
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“There was a lot of smoke damage,” said Demkiw. “So there’s smoke that kind of went throughout the building.”
Several businesses occupy the single-storey commercial strip mall, but the fire primarily affected ABC Wedding, which does special event rentals.
Demkiw said the fire and resulting damage could slow the store down a day or two, but likely won’t impact it in the long-term.
“We’ve got a few weddings that we have to look after, but it’s just a matter of pulling new stock, which we have a lot of,” he explained.
“We’ve got the production side and that’s sustained most of the damage, and we’ve got the sales side and that’s just a bit of smoke, so that’s just a cleanup. The production side is going to take a little time to get things going again, but like I say, we’ve got a lot of inventory, so it’s just a matter of pulling new stock.”
Fire Investigators completed their report later Friday morning and determined that the fire was deliberately set.
The fire originated in two separate areas inside the ABC Weddings space, that is physically attached to ABC Bridal – which sells gowns. The two are under separate ownership.
The gown shop owner believes the impact to his store should be minimal. There is some smoke damage on sample dresses, but reportedly, they can be cleaned very quickly.
Gowns for this weekend’s weddings were not affected as they had already left the store.
Edmonton police are now investigating.
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