A door's window is boarded up at Unit 7 - 5108 52 Street in Red Deer where firefighters forced their way into a building to put out a fire on the other side. rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

wednesday night

Cause of Railyards fire suspicious, but not for sure malicious

Dec 1, 2022 | 10:35 AM

A fire Wednesday night left damage to a business in Red Deer’s Railyards neighbourhood.

Andrew Towers, Fire Safety Codes Officer with Red Deer Emergency Services, says members responded at about 9:45 p.m. to Unit 7 at 5108-52 Street, a business called Complete Financial Solutions.

Fire, smoke and water damage were limited to the one unit, though it isn’t gutted, with the fire having mostly remained on the building’s east side.

The belief is the fire was deliberately set, and RCMP are investigating.

“It appears somebody had started a fire on the exterior of the east side of the building with some wood,” says Towers. “What isn’t clear, as far as the cause, is if this person meant to set the building on fire or was simply trying to keep warm.”

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There were no people inside the building at the time, and all members of RDES were unharmed in the response.

Towers noted RCMP indicate they are looking for surveillance footage of the area to narrow down the exact nature of the fire.

RDES adds that businesses should try to keep building exteriors a) clear of combustible materials, and b) well-lit to deter activity such as this.