NEWS PHOTO EMMA BENNETT
Fire destroyed the shop and lot located at 1030 South Railway St. on Wednesday afternoon.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com @CollinGallant
The investigation of a fire that razed a storage lot and shop on South Railway Street on Wednesday has been forwarded to police, the News has learned.
The fire snarled traffic on the busy route and sent up huge plumes of flames and smoke. It destroyed a shed and vehicles, but left neighbouring businesses unscathed.
“The fire was incendiary in nature, meaning it was a set fire,” fire marshal Scott Hanelt told the News on Thursday. “That makes it suspicious and now it becomes a police issue.”
His probe determined that fire initially started in the passenger compartment of vehicle being stored on the site.
Since the vehicle wasn’t in working order and lacked a battery, and the fires spread relatively quickly, it led him to deem the cause of the fire suspicious. Medicine Hat Police Service is now handling the investigation.
Insp. Joe West said investigators have canvassed several people who were in that area at the time of the fire.
“Until we make a determination (about cause), we’ll continue to investigate, of course,” he said.
Earlier on Thursday, the long-time owners of the lot and small shop told the News they are happy the fire was contained to their property, which was rented out at the time.
Rick Ebel tells the News that his father’s autoparts business, Dave Ebel Auto Parts, has owned the lot at 1030 South Railway St. for decades. It was recently rented out for use as a storage lot, but Ebel didn’t know the nature of the business.
“From what we understand they were parting out vehicles,” he said. He declined to identify the tenant, but said the landlord-tenant relationship was strained.
“I would think (the property is) a total loss and we’ll probably clear the lot perhaps use it for storage in the future,” said Ebel.
Wednesday’s fire saw the cars, a hedge fence and older shack on the site burn over the course of about 40 minutes, but traffic was blocked traffic into the evening and crews and investigators worked.
Owners of neighbouring businesses say they have little knowledge about the lot, which hasn’t hosted daily business trade for years.
It was a long-term holding of the family, said Ebel, which once owned five lots in a row on the stretch but had sold off the four others over the years.
It is listed in city directories prior to 1953 as the headquarters of Imperial Oil in the region.
Blaze spread quickly
The blaze began just as fire crews were working to extinguish a grass fire about 400 metres away in a direct line across the Canadian Pacific rail line.
A News reporter who was driving to the South Flats fire noticed curls of smoke coming from the middle of the fenced yard as he passed at about 3:25 p.m., but chalked it up to some industrial or construction activity.
Soon though, a heavy column of smoke began billowing from the yard. Loud pops were heard as the flames spread to the shop, which was engulfed by 3:45 p.m.
Fire crews contained the fire to the lot, working on either side from an adjoining masonry yard and the City of Medicine Hat recycling drop-off depot.
The activity added to a busy scene already on South Railway Street that is currently the site of major roadwork.
Redi-Bottle Depot, two lots south of the fire, continued operating behind a line put up by fire crews, said Redi executive director Karen Gingras.
“We had a lineup of customers who were pretty excited, but I guess it was business as usual,” said Gingras.
Andrea Moritz, of Moritz Masonry, also thanked fire crews from keeping the fire from spreading. They set up in her storage yard and pumped water over their inventory.
The intense heat took a toll on some stone products and tile that were stacked near the property line.
“A few pallets are history,” said Moritz. “But it’s business as usual.”
