Strathcona County RCMP said one person was arrested Saturday morning in connection to an overnight Sherwood Park fire that destroyed several businesses.
Fire crews were called at around 12:30 a.m. Saturday about a fire at the Chopped Leaf on Sherwood Drive. When they arrived, six of the seven businesses at the Sherwood Centre strip mall were fully involved — including several restaurants, a boutique and a hair salon.
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“Six of the seven buildings have been a complete loss. The seventh building is the Shoppers Drug Mart which has some water damage and some smoke inside but appears to be still doing alright,” Devin Capcara, deputy chief of operations with Strathcona county Emergency Service, said.
In a media release sent at 2:30 a.m. Saturday, Strathcona RCMP said the KFC, Little Caesars, Klee Boutique, Chopped Leaf, Dr. Bernstein Clinic and Great Clips were all damaged in the fire.
RCMP said the arrest was made at about 9:45 a.m. and the person remained in custody but no charges had been laid as of Saturday afternoon. Police did not release any other details about the person arrested.
Klee Boutique owner Kristen Lang said she was notified by a friend and her alarm company at around 12:30 a.m. that something could have been wrong at the boutique.
Lang said she rushed to her store, concerned there might have been a break-in, only to learn it was a massive fire.
“I saw lots of smoke at the back of my store because I came around the back, came to front, and there were flames everywhere,” she said.
Nearly 30 firefighters were called to the strip mall and got the fire under control just after 6 a.m., Capcara said.
On Saturday afternoon, RCMP said a fire investigator could not enter the building because conditions were unsafe.
“Once an examination and investigation is completed, Strathcona County RCMP will receive an official report from the fire investigator,” RCMP said in a statement.
Lang said she has owned the boutique for 12 years. Seeing the store destroyed on Saturday was a massive blow during an already difficult year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She said with slow sales and a recent increase in insurance, she was behind on payments and now fears she may not recover.
“We were waiting on funding from the government that we should have got back in February,” she said. “We still haven’t gotten (it), and we were planning on making that payment right away.”
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Lang said she has lost nearly $300,000 in inventory, not including damaged property or store supplies.
A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help Lang recoup some of the loss.
Investigators are asking anyone with dashcam footage of the area between midnight and 12:35 a.m. Saturday is asked to contact Strathcona County RCMP.