Saanich Fire fought to contain a blaze early Saturday morning at Island Outfitters on Douglas St. and Cloverdale Ave.
Emergency officials on scene said that crews arrived around 6:30 a.m. to find the outdoor store in flames. Deputy Chief Frank Macdonald says that heavy smoke and flames were visible from the street.
Macdonald said there were no injuries from the incident, but said it took some time to confirm that the fire was completely out.
“There was quite a bit of heat and smoke in the attic crawlspace,” Macdonald said. “It took a considerable amount of time to ventilate that area.”
Macdonald said that the fire originated in some exterior storage sheds at the rear of the building. Macdonald said that because of the location, accessing the fire also proved difficult.
He added that wind direction helped take some of the heat away from the building, and while there was interior smoke and heat damage it could have been worse.
Macdonald said that the investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing, and was unable to comment if there were fire detection systems in place in the storage sheds.
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