A strip mall in Moose Jaw is now a scene of devastation after a fire blazed through the area Thursday night.
The mall located on the 300 block of Thatcher Drive, has several businesses in it including Dollar Tree and Bulk Barn which were engulfed in flames.
“The fire took off exponentially and we set up a defense (against a fire on) attack mode,” Mike Russell, the Moose Jaw Fire deputy chief said.
A total of 18 firefighters were on the scene Thursday for seven hours throughout the evening.
However, the cause of the fire is still a mystery.
“We won’t know for some time but we have drones up there right now, we do have our team of investigators and assistance from Moose Jaw police with their drones,” Russell said with the buildings’ remains behind him.
According to Russell, no injuries have been reported.
He said crews arrived at around 7:30 p.m. Thursday to find the Dollar Tree spewing smoke making it impossible for firefighters to enter the building.
According to firefighters, the cold weather created issues fighting the flames as water turned to ice and the pumps were at risk of freezing.
For many bystanders, the blaze was a sight to remember.
“It was in flames and it was huge,” Keneisha Horsnall said as she recalled seeing the blaze. “I haven’t seen anything like that and it happened so fast. I’m glad everyone got out safe.”
“The windows on the dollar store were completely black, you couldn’t see anything,” said William Stevens who witnessed the fire.
Stevens said it was only a matter of minutes before the fire took off from the dollar store and jumped across to the Bulk Barn before completely burning the two stores to the ground.
“This was very intense and you could just feel the heat radiating off of it,” Stevens said.
Now, the cleanup begins, and Moose Jaw residents are left with two fewer places to shop.
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