Fire officials say a massive blaze that destroyed part of the Evergreen Mall in Sooke is suspicious.
The unusual six-alarm fire started behind the Royal Bank and spread through the building.
More than fifty firefighters fought this blaze, most of them – volunteers.
Fire crews had to evacuate the premises while fighting the fire as the structures became unstable.
At one point, a major portion of the floor collapsed, and fire fighters had to be pulled out of the building.
Later, the fire travelled into the attic space on the second floor.
The fire destroyed eight businesses, including the Sooke News Mirror.
The newspaper lost everything including all of their archives.
They have been posting photos of the devastation on their Facebook page.
Videos and photos of the blaze were posted to Twitter Wednesday morning:
Smoke as seen from the top of Mt. Matheson (Courtesy: Meghan McCrae Simpson)
The Capital Regional District says that the blaze has drawn down the Helgeson Resevoir and some residents may run out of water today.
There are no injuries reported.
Damage estimates already exceed a million dollars, and fire crews say it is highly unlikely the building is salvageable.
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