Four businesses have been completely destroyed after fire broke out in downtown Port Coquitlam Thursday morning.
Crews are still battling the blaze, which started in a barbershop on Shaughnessy Street between Elgin and McAlliser avenues and quickly spread through a common ceiling area to three neighbouring shops.
No injuries have been reported in the incident, which is believed to have started at around 7 a.m. By 9:45 a.m., PoCo Fire and Emergency Services Chief Nick Delmonico told The Tri-City News that the flames had been mostly contained and that crews were dousing the properties from above.
"The common roofing structure has collapsed," he said. "That has substantially reduced what is going on here. We have been pouring water on it for a couple of hours."
Exhaustion has been a major issue, Delmonico added, noting that an earlier fire that occurred at 4 a.m. has meant that his firefighters have been busy battling blazes all morning.
Through their mutual aid agreement, Coquitlam's fire service has sent a contingent to assist on Shaughnessy Street and New Westminster crews are on standby in case more help is needed.
"We have guys that have been up for 15, 16 hours," Delmonico said. "We have every apparatus here."
Many downtown PoCo businesses and residents have been impacted by the fire.
The condo development on the west side of Shaughnessy Street has been evacuated due to smoke concerns and city hall is closed until further notice. TransLink is also re-routing buses in the area.
Sheila Sharma, who owns the Giggle Dam theatre with her husband Mark Friebe, was watching the fire move down the street all morning.
Her business shares a wall with the destroyed shops, however because it was made of concrete blocks, it acted as a fire stop.
"We've been a little panicky," she said.
One of the firefighters told her that there may be some water and smoke damage, but the flames had not spread into the theatre.
"They worked so hard to try and make sure our building was not affected," she said. "Obviously, the building is shut down right now. But they said in a few hours we could get people in to see the damages."
A cast member that works for the Giggle Dam was planning to get married at the theatre on Sunday. Sharma said more than likely other arrangements for the nuptials will have to be arranged.
Nasser Silavi's business was not as lucky as the Giggle Dam.
He runs the jewelry and cash for gold shop that was destroyed in the blaze and said he had more questions than answers when contacted by The Tri-City News.
Silavi does not have insurance on his business and added that he would not know the extent of the devastation until he could enter the property.
"I don't know what is going to happen," he said. "I don't have any answers."
