The cause of a late July blaze in a southwest Calgary shopping centre has yet to be determined, but for the business owners affected, the fire damaged their shops as well as their financial outlook.
Flames tore through one of the buildings in West Market Square, located along Sirocco Drive in the neighbourhood of Signal Hill, in the early morning hours of July 20.
The fire was extinguished but not before it left its mark on six businesses, including Rick Chuk’s restaurant that has been a fixture in the centre since 2005.
Nearly two weeks later, Chuk, the owner and chef of LeVilla Restaurant, stood outside his eatery as restoration work took place inside.
“It’s devastating,” Chuk told Global News. “Everything’s removed and it looks destroyed. The water came down the roof.”
Despite his predicament, Chuk considers himself lucky as the majority of the damage to his restaurant was the result of smoke. Not all of his fellow business owners were as fortunate.
It will be weeks before LeVilla reopens, with plans in place for a new menu, but Chuk’s heart beaks for his employees are currently out of work.
“It’s tough. Most important is the staff that don’t have a job right now. Last time we talked to the insurance company, they told me that maybe in the middle of September, or the end of September, that we can reopen.”
The fire broke out as his business was starting to recover from the challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of the businesses in West Market Square that were unscathed by the July fire have opened their doors to affected businesses and provided them with space to sell their wares.
Investigators continue their efforts to source what sparked the fire.
— with files from Global News’ Cami Kepke