An overnight fire at The Barber Shop at 1212 Lasalle Boulevard is considered suspicious.
The incident is being investigated by Greater Sudbury Police Service and the Office of the Fire Marshal. As such, Greater Sudbury Fire Services Deputy Chief Jesse Oshell said he is unable to comment on its potential cause.
However, he clarified that its location, across the street from the New Sudbury fire station, proved ideal.
“It’s all about getting there fast and getting it under control quickly,” he said, adding that the initial crew was able to arrive on scene quickly. They were later joined by crews from three other stations, which were able to beat down the blaze before it caused much additional damage to adjoining properties.
The fire was reported by passing motorists at approximately 11 p.m. on Tuesday and crews were on site for approximately three hours.
The Barber Shop is part of the Place De Leon strip mall, which includes various other businesses and residential units. Although some of these properties suffered smoke and water damage, crews were able to contain the fire to a single unit.
“The fire was extremely hot and was consuming the materials inside of the unit and in order to keep it from spreading, and protecting the other units in that mall, we ensured that we put as much manpower and equipment as needed to keep that contained as possible,” Oshell said.
There were no people in The Barber Shop at the time of the fire, and crews took a defensive approach to the blaze, which places an emphasis on ensuring it doesn’t spread.
Three people were evacuated from attached residential units and the Canadian Red Cross offered them temporary accommodations.
Some remediation work will be required at the attached properties, Oshell said, as power and water were cut off which resulted in freezing pipes. This morning, The Basement Fitness issued notice on social media that they were closed for the day due to the fire.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
