Fire investigators began combing through debris on Tuesday to determine what caused last week's fire that destroyed five businesses on Shaughnessy Street.
Because of the B.C. Day long weekend, PoCo Fire and Emergency Services Chief Nick Delmonico said investigators held off going into the destroyed buildings until they could be structurally secured.
"Our main focus last week was getting the damage contained and getting the buildings sound," he said. "Because of the long weekend, we shored the place up, with the idea that we are going back in to do the fire investigation... We will do the investigation before we get to the demolition stage."
Delmonico said that none of the business owners will be allowed back on the site until the investigation is complete. The properties have been fenced off and patrolled by security guards since last week.
Work is expected to be completed by the end of the week and Delmonico said it will not take long to clear the properties of debris.
"A lot of it depends on what we get out of it today," Delmonico said Tuesday morning, before investigators got to work. "That might take more than a day. Demolition is a backhoe and about an hour's worth of work."
While the fire destroyed four structures, many downtown PoCo businesses and residents were affected by the fire.
Shaughnessy Street was shut down in both directions for most of last Thursday while nearby city hall and some neighbouring apartment buildings were temporarily evacuated. TransLink was also forced to re-route several buses in the area.
Nasser Silavi was the owner of one of the businesses that was destroyed in the blaze.
He ran a jewelry and cash for gold shop and told The Tri-City News that he hoped to get on his property to see if any of his merchandise could be salvaged.
The other businesses destroyed were a barber shop, a lawyer's office, the retailer Urban Man Cave and an optometry clinic.
Besides the properties destroyed by the blaze, things were mostly back to normal by the weekend for most of the shops in the neighbourhood.
Delmonico said he expected the sidewalk on Shaughnessy Street would be fully re-opened this week after the demolition takes place while city staff have been working with the local business improvement association to help relocate affected shops.
Sheila Sharma, the owner of the Giggle Dam Theatre, which was spared significant damage, said she was able to get back into her building the day after the fire. Electricity, gas and water was quickly restored and she said smoke and water damage was relatively minor.
Now, she said staff would be focusing their attention on helping their neighbours get back on their feet.
"Watching the Port Coquitlam community come together over this has been quite remarkable," she said. "Our thoughts are with the four small business owners that now have the daunting task of trying to rebuild their livelihoods. We want to make sure we are available to help in whatever way we can. [We are] brainstorming options as we speak."
gmckenna@tricitynews.com
