North Vancouver RCMP’s arson unit has taken over the investigation into a fire that damaged a Seymour area commercial building on Saturday.
District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services received the 9-1-1 call just before 8 p.m. when someone in the neighbourhood noticed smoke coming from a building on the corner of Riverside Drive and Spicer Road.
The fire was in the warehouse portion at the rear of a three-unit, cinderblock building that’s also home to a catering business and chandelier shop.
The warehouse contained “miscellaneous items” and the fire damage was mostly kept to one row of stored goods, but it’s too soon to say what ignited it.
“(The investigators) have a few things to confirm. Hopefully by Friday we can say whether it’s suspicious or accidental,” said Cpl. Richard De Jong, North Vancouver RCMP spokesman. “If it’s suspicious, of course it would be arson.”
The fire spewed out such thick, black smoke that it proved challenging to put out, according to assistant fire chief Jim Bonneville.
“It took them 15 to 20 minutes to actually determine where the seat of the fire was so they could actually get in and hit it with water,” Bonneville said.
The ceiling’s wooden roof trusses were blackened with smoke but not charred to the point of being dangerous. The smoke, however, was heavy enough to require the catering company’s café be shut down at least temporarily, Bonneville added.
