An early morning fire that shut down a section of Whyte Avenue on Monday has been ruled arson by Edmonton police.
Edmonton firefighters were called to the fire on Whyte Avenue at 105 Street shortly after 5 a.m. Smoke could be seen billowing from the windows of the building.
“The fire was on the south end of the building and it caused heavy smoke throughout the whole building,” Edmonton Fire Rescue Services chief Martin Prins said.
“It was tough to get at. There’s lots of fire load and fuel load on the second floor. It was difficult for crews to make their way through, but they did get the fire under control.”
An area was also cordoned off behind the Tim Hortons east of the building where the fire happened. Two bottles with rags inside were on the ground where the police tape was set up.
At around 8 a.m., the Edmonton Police Service Bomb Unit was called to an area behind the coffee shop to “render safe two improvised incendiary devices that were found in that location,” police said in an afternoon media release.
Watch below: Edmonton fire investigators have determined a fire at a Whyte Avenue business Monday morning was deliberately set. Fletcher Kent reports.
Prins said no one was in the building at the time and it was too early to determine how the fire started
While the fire has been ruled arson, who might be behind the blaze remained unknown Monday afternoon.
READ MORE: 3 firefighters sent to hospital after massive southeast Edmonton industrial fire
Police shut down Whyte Avenue in both directions from 105 Street to 106 Street while they investigated the fire. The roadway was open to traffic again by Monday afternoon.
There are three businesses in the building: Queen Donair, The Forge on Whyte and Club82.
“The donair shop was operational, we’re not sure about the other two yet. We’re still waiting to contact the owners,” Prins said. “The donair shop did not have any fire damage but it did have smoke damage.”
After arriving at the scene, The Forge on Whyte owner Dale Weran said he felt shocked over what happened to his live music venue.
“I don’t even know what to feel at this point because I don’t even know the extent of the damage yet or anything,” Weran said.
“I don’t know if anything is salvageable, if we can open here again, so right now there are so many things going through my mind.”
Weran said investigators asked him if the building has had any electrical issues or if his business has had any problems with the community.
“We’ve been dealing really well with the music community. We don’t have any enemies or anything, so we think it might have just been an accident…is what I’m thinking. It was possibly electrical is my suspicion,” he said.
Queen Donair owner Keli Hayder said he didn’t want to speak to the media but he told Global News his business has been operating for 20 years.
More than six fire trucks were on scene, including a ladder truck.
Epcor was also called in to deal with the power.
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