Four businesses are now a pile of smoking debris and several animals have died after a fire consumed a mall in the city of Steinbach, southeast Manitoba.
Emergency crews were called Sunday around 3:30 p.m. to Main Street Mall, where there is a pet store, a land store, a paint shop and a tax office.
“There were animals; we were able to get some out, but most of them died,” fire chief Kelvin Toews said.
Steven Larson, manager of Best West Pet Foods, said three reptiles were saved before the fire intensified.
“They were able to save a few, not enough, but at the same time they did everything they could,” he said of firefighters.
There were also 26 tanks full of fish, along with cages containing birds, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, mice and rats that have been lost.
“It was heartbreaking, for sure. The pets we had, we took great care of them,” Larson said. “A lot of them had names, so it’s been tough.”
Larson said an employee called him around 3:15 p.m. saying he could smell something burnt and wondered what to do. So he started walking there when he got another call saying smoke was coming into the store.
Firefighters were already at the scene when Larson arrived and he was not allowed to enter the store.
“At the time it was much more advanced than I expected. But you can never expect a fire like the one we ended up with,” he said.
As for the rescued reptiles, “they all have veterinary checks later today that we have to take them to, but it looks like everyone will get it,” he said.
“You never know that with smoke inhalation, animals have tiny lungs. They seem to get better today, compared to what they looked like yesterday.”
An excavator has been introduced to lift some of the pancake layers from the collapse to reach the smoky embers hidden among the rubble. (Submitted by Nathan Bestvater)
The reptiles will be welcomed by Larson and an employee, but he has also received “hundreds of offers” from people offering space.
“It’s been really overwhelming, for sure.”
Larson is looking for a temporary place to reopen the store before he can find a permanent location.
“We love helping the community with all of their pets, so we just want to come back.”
According to Toews, there was smoke inside one of the businesses when the teams arrived, and they initially came in to fight the fire, but it spread quickly and he had to order his teams out of the building. .
“Conditions changed considerably and we had to take them out and get defensive,” he said, adding that the fire also started to grow, breaking the roof.
“We finally put out the fire, but not before the roof collapsed. The building will be a total loss.”
An air quality warning has been issued
A temporary air quality warning has had to be issued in the city due to the nature of some of the fire materials.
“It’s a land store and a paint shop in there. When it burns, there’s a lot of toxic smoke,” Toews said, noting that there was still some “easy” smoke Monday morning, but most it had dissipated.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, but an investigator is at the scene, Toews said.
An excavator has been introduced to lift some of the pancake layers from the collapse to reach the smoky embers hidden among the rubble.
“So it’s still going to be a long process,” Toews said.