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Updated: RCMP says fire that destroyed industrial building is suspicious

RCMP said a Friday fire that destroyed a building under construction in Clearview Industrial Park appears to have been intentionally set.
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A fire completely destroyed a building owned by Blue Collar Garage and Storage in the Clearview Industrial Park just south of Red Deer Friday night. Photo by SEAN MCINTOSH/Advocate staff

RCMP said a Friday fire that destroyed a building under construction in Clearview Industrial Park appears to have been intentionally set.

“The incident is currently under investigation and appears to be suspicious in nature,” said RCMP on Tuesday morning. “The Blackfalds RCMP are asking for the public’s assistance with any information in relation to this incident.”

The building, owned by Blue Collar Garage & Storage, just south of Red Deer was only a month away from opening when it burned to the ground.

“Last night, at about nine o’clock, there was a fire on our building that was under construction,” said company spokesman Cole Dore.

The building was located behind another company facility.

“No fire reached the other building, but it obviously caused a little bit of damage,” said Dore.

“It’s too bad. We got some good traction on our first building, and we were pretty excited for this one.

“We had nine small businesses lined up to lease the space and have a place to work for the winter.”

Dore estimates there is more than $1 million of damage to the building. They were eight months into construction, he added.

Everything was insured, according to Dore, and the business will need to do a “full rip out and redo.”

Travis Allred, with the Red Deer County Fire Department, said 20 to 25 firefighters from all over the district responded to the blaze. They were on scene until about 3 a.m.

“One of our biggest priorities was protecting the secondary structure and making sure we didn’t get an extension of the fire to the structure that was not involved at the time,” said Allred.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Blackfalds RCMP at 403-885-3300 or your local police. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), online at www.P3Tips.com (http://www.p3tips.com) or by using the “P3 Tips” app available through the Apple App or Google Play Store.



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Photo by SEAN MCINTOSH/Advocate staff A fire completely destroyed a building owned by Blue Collar Garage & Storage in the Clearview Industrial Park, just south of Red Deer Friday night.
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A fire completely destroyed a building owned by Blue Collar Garage and Storage in the Clearview Industrial Park just south of Red Deer Friday night. Photo by SEAN MCINTOSH/Advocate staff