Two days after a massive blaze sent three firefighters to hospital and destroyed part of a building housing several businesses, the owners of one of the affected businesses is thanking fire crews for their bravery.
“We are very thankful to the Edmonton fire department and all other first responders who were on the scene,” reads a statement from the Lawrence family, who own School Source and Office Co. “Their conduct was extremely courageous and professional.
“This is a devastating event for our family business that we have spent many years building. We are however grateful that there was no loss of life, and our fantastic employees and family are all safe.”
The fire broker out in an industrial area on 83 Street, south of Wagner Road, at about 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The blaze wasn’t declared out until almost 16 hours later.
READ MORE: 3 firefighters sent to hospital after massive southeast Edmonton industrial fire
Watch below: A large fire broke out at an industrial building in south Edmonton on Saturday.
Three firefighters registered higher than normal carbon monoxide levels and were taken to hospital for observation before being released late Saturday. Other nearby buildings were also threatened but in the end, the building that housed School Source and Office Co. was the only one destroyed.
Raziq Hussainzada owns Blue Star Automotive, which is located in a neighbouring building. On Tuesday, he told Global News the fire left him “shaken up” and that he’s had problems sleeping ever since.
“[It was] pretty intense… Thank God no one got hurt,” he said.
Terry McLachlan said he was doing yard work on Saturday afternoon when he began to hear more and more sirens in the area. He said he rode his bike to the scene to see what was happening and that what he saw next was “quite surreal.”
“You cannot appreciate how… the firefighters have to go in there and stick their necks out and put themselves in danger,” he said. “We could see how fast the fire went out of control… the smoke no longer was just white smoke, it was pure black smoke.
McLachlan said the scariest moments came when the fire crews’ aerial ladder appeared to be in trouble and he was impressed with how firefighters reacted.
“Nobody was losing their head, everybody was keeping it all together and they were trying to get out of the flames.”
Hussainzada said he saw heavy smoke pouring out of the building and flames shooting out one of the door while he could hear other doors popping out.
The Lawrence family did not give a timeline for when their business would be operational again but had an optimistic message for its customers on Tuesday.
“As a family, we will rebuild our business together with the commitment of our amazing employees and with support from our customers,” the family’s statement reads. “Our family is very grateful to everyone who has reached out to us.”
-With files from Global News’ Albert Delitala and Jennifer Ivanov