The early morning commercial plaza fire in Kanata is now being investigated by the Ottawa police arson unit.
In an update late Tuesday, police said they were investigating the incident as an arson case, as multiple businesses were displaced and “millions of dollars” in damages occurred.
It happened at about 3:31 a.m. when a 9-1-1 caller described “heavy black smoke” coming from one of the businesses in the 400 block of Hazeldean Road in Ottawa’s west end.
Police are looking for people with dash camera or video footage of suspicious activity in the area of Castlefrank Road and Hazeldean Road between 1:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m.
Quickly fire crews descended on the blaze and could see smoke and flames coming from the roof in a large one-storey commerical plaza.
Officials were met with high heat when trying to enter the building. The roof was at risk of collapsing, Nick DeFazio, media relation officer with Ottawa Fire Services told CityNews.
Due to this, a second alarm was declared at 3:57 a.m. for additional resources. The fire had spread from the roof and the walls of four units, but crews were able to contain it before it spread to the approximate 15 other units in the complex.
Officials used chainsaws to cut holes in the roof in order to extinguish the flames. The ceiling and walls were pulled down inside the units as the flames were travelling up the walls.
Two searches were done of the units and no occupants were found. There were no reports of injuries.
By 7:37 a.m. the fire was under control.