Emergency crews were called about 3:30 p.m. on Sunday at the Main Street Mall, home to a pet store, a flooring store, a paint store and a tax office. “There were animals – we were able to get some of them out, but the majority of them were lost,” said Fire Chief Kelvin Toews. Steven Larson, manager of Best West Pet Foods, said three reptiles were rescued before the fire escalated. “They were able to save a few of them, not quite a few, but at the same time they did the best they could,” he said of the 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 was just hard.” Larson said an employee called him around 3:15 p.m. saying he smelled something burning and wondered what to do. So he started heading that way when he got another call saying there was smoke coming into the store. Firefighters were already on the scene when Larson got there and were not allowed into the store. “It was a lot further at that point than I expected. But you can never wait for a fire like we ended up with,” he said. As for the rescued reptiles, “they all have vet checks later today that we have to go to, but they all look like they’ll be fine,” he said. “You never know with smoke inhalation, animals have tiny lungs. They seem to be doing better today, compared to what they looked like yesterday.” An excavator has been brought in to lift some of the fried layers from the collapse to get to the swollen embers hidden in the rubble. (Submitted by Nathan Bestvater) The reptiles will be raised by Larson and an employee, but he has also received “hundreds of offers” from people offering space as well. “It was 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 their pets, so we just want to give back.” According to Toews, there was smoke inside one of the businesses when crews arrived, and they initially went in to fight the fire, but it quickly spread and he had to order his crews out of the building. “The conditions changed significantly and we had to pull them out and go on the defensive,” he said, adding that the fire also began to grow, penetrating the roof. “We finally got the fire down, but not before the roof collapsed. The building will be a total loss.”
An air quality warning has been issued
A temporary air quality advisory had to be issued for the city due to the nature of some of the materials in the fire. “It’s a flooring store and a paint store in there. When it burns, there’s a lot of toxic smoke,” Toews said, noting there was still some “smoky” smoke Monday morning, but the majority was gone. The cause of the fire is not yet known, but an investigator is on the scene, Toews said. An excavator has been brought in to lift some of the fried layers from the collapse to get to the swollen embers hidden in the rubble. “So it’s still going to be a long process,” Toews said.
