No injuries were reported following a Nov. 2, early-morning blaze at the Capri Mall.
A smoke alarm alerted Town of Westlock and Westlock Rural fire crews to the mall at 8:45 a.m. Town of Westlock fire chief Stuart Koflick reported that smoke was already visible by the time crews arrived on scene.
Members put out the fire in a matter of minutes, but two vacant suites suffered fire damage, while the rest of the single-storey building suffered smoke damage.
Seven Westlock fire department members, five county members, two peace officers and EMS were on scene. No one was injured during the incident.
“I had requested a tower truck from Barrhead Fire Service due to the fact that our ladder truck is being repaired, but we stood them down on route,” Koflick said.
Businesses were shut down during the incident, but by noon, doors opened to allow them to assess their own damage.
“The length of the rest of the operation was doing what we call overhaul operations, just making sure there was no extension into the rest of the mall and clearing the mall of smoke,” Koflick said.
Damage estimates are still being put together, although he noted one suite could have $10-$20,000 in damages, in addition to the mall requiring restoration.
The investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing and he noted that nothing has been crossed off yet.
“We try to determine the cause and origin of the fire, so looking at what potentially could have started the fire through accidental means, so failures of electrical, mechanical equipment, that sort of thing,” he said. “We look at human factors, so whether there was an act or omission from somebody in the building. We look at a whole bunch of different things and start eliminating potential causes and we narrow our focus down to what the actual cause could be.”
Koflick said he was happy with the level cooperation among the different responders, but reminded the public to move to the right if they see a personal vehicle with a flashing green light.
“We’re just asking the public if you see someone driving their vehicle with a green flashing light, that is an emergency responder trying to get to an emergency,” he said. “If they could pull over to the right and yield the right of way, that would greatly be appreciated.”
