Residents of Westview Drive will have to source a new pit stop for Slurpees and hot dogs this Canada Day, after a fire has caused the local 7/11 to shut up shop.
Five fire trucks, three from the City of North Vancouver and two from the District, were deployed to the convenience store on Westview Drive around 9:45 p.m, said North Vancouver City Fire Department assistant fire chief Andrew Payne.
The blaze was in a wall cavity in the back corner of the building in a locked staff room, he added.
“There was a fair amount of smoke in the building, and the team quickly found the root of the fire, pulled the walls open, and put the fire out,” he said.
Payne said the large fire truck presence had been merely a precaution as the fire had been in close proximity to the neighbouring gas station.
“There was some damage to the building that we had mostly done getting to the fire, a lot of smouldering in the wall, but the fire itself was actually fairly minor,” he said.
Store manager Arkesh Ganbnj said the store would be closed for “at least” a couple of days.
While the fire was minor, repairing the structural damage to the building may take some time, he said.
Ganbnj said two employees were alerted to the fire by the smell of burning, and initially thought "food had been left in the oven." Both were evacuated from the store safely and without injury, he said.
The cause of the fire is still to be determined.
Mina Kerr-Lazenby is the North Shore News’ Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
