Warehouse fire near encampment site considered suspicious

A fire at a warehouse building adjacent to the site of an encampment on Avenue K South is considered suspicious.

According to the Saskatoon Fire Department, the fire was reported just after 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, and a number of crews were dispatched to the scene where they spotted flames emerging from the rear of the building.

Firefighters had to cut through a locked gate to get to the fire, and entered the warehouse to search for anyone inside while others extinguished the blaze. Nobody was found inside, the fire department noted, and the fire was brought under control just before 2 a.m.

“On the west side of the property, there were indications of an encampment,” the fire department said in a statement. “The area was searched. No person(s) were in the encampment in the alleyway. The fire did not involve or breach the encampment.”

In Regina, a large encampment at City Hall was recently dismantled following three fires in a five-day period.

The fire department said a fire investigator spotted indications that the fire was suspicious, and requested assistance from a police arson investigator before turning over the scene to police.

According to the fire department, three separate points of origin were identified: An air handling unit, the west side of the building, and an “accessory building.”

Nobody was injured in the blaze, and damage was estimated at $15,000.

Anyone with information about the fire was asked to contact the Saskatoon Police Service.