REGINA — A Regina business is estimating tens of thousands of dollars in damages from a recent fire.
On Tuesday, at 10 p.m., Regina Fire were called to 504 McIntyre St., where pallets on the backside of the building were found to be on fire.
Nelson Herrmann, who works on parts at Auto Parts Plus, said he found out about it on social media.
“I was heading to bed when my wife called me and showed me the photos. It was shocking for sure.”
Several workers rushed to the scene and stayed until 3 a.m. to assess the damage, said Herrmann.
Dwight Hubick, warehouse manager, said the roof, insulation, drywall and stock were all damaged in the fire.
Some of the inventory was also damaged from water used to contain the blaze.
“We know it's going to be like tens and thousands of dollars [in costs],” he said.
The company is currently waiting for its insurance to get full estimates of costs.
Due to damage, the store is currently not open.
Taylor Cobb, assistant store manager, said they’re likely losing thousands of dollars daily from turning away customers.
“We're a pretty busy store. We have a lot of clientele built up over the amount of years who rely on us, so it’s definitely hurting us.”
The pallets outside the building normally get picked up by a company once in a while, but workers said no one showed up for weeks before Tuesday's fire.
Hubick said they can get upwards of eight to 10 pallets a day, and the company is now considering different ways of stacking or placing them outside.
“We want to try different things to help prevent this from happening again.”
As for when the store plans to reopen, Hubick said workers will have a meeting later on today, and consider opening partially depending on where they’re at with sorting through inventory.
Regina Fire is currently investigating the incident.
