The early morning fire on the north side of the city on April 13 has left a small business complex badly damaged and subsequently the subject of a police investigation as to the cause of the blaze.
Estevan fire rescue Chief Dale Feser said they received a call around 5 a.m. and the intensity and location of the blaze meant, pretty well, all of the department’s 28 fire fighters sped to the 1818 Ink Tattoo business on Souris Avenue North near the Albert Street intersection.
“We called upon all four of our fire suppression units and, in total, we spent about 18 hours on the scene, to ensure everything was safe. Then it was time to clean up the equipment,” said Feser who had to delay his departure to a provincial meeting of fire chiefs in North Battleford, to tend to the local need.
“The actual cause of the fire is under investigation. I am meeting with Estevan Police Chief Paul Ladouceur today to discuss that with him,” said Feser on Monday morning following his return. The actual source of ignition will be determined and the investigation will proceed from that point, he suggested.
The general area of the fire’s origin has been acknowledged and Feser said there was some fire damage and definitely some water damage to neighbouring businesses in the same block due to the huge volume of water that was needed to bring the fire under control.
“The structure has been compromised, that’s for certain, and so I expect the insurance company or companies will do their assessments from this point on.”
Feser said it was fortunate that no one was in any of the businesses at the time of the outbreak and no injuries were sustained by any of the fire fighters.
Estevan police Chief Paul Ladouceur told the Mercury on Tuesday evening that the fire is being investigated as "suspicious," based on the evidence that has been retrieved thus far from the scene.
"It's looking like this might be an intentional fire," said Ladouceur. "The investigation is ongoing."
Police are in the early stages of their investigation, and Ladouceur expects it will take a while to complete it.
Since it could turn into a criminal investigation, Ladouceur said he couldn't comment more regarding the evidence that has been received.
Anyone with information on the fire is asked to contact the Estevan Police Service at 306-634-4767 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
In an unrelated matter, a fire crew was dispatched around 6:30 a.m. on April 18 in response to a reported possible natural gas leak in the city. Feser said SaskEnergy technicians also attended and began a potential leak inspection process after it was determined there was no further need for the Fire Rescue service.
