A fire at the Dulux Paints store in Coquitlam may have been sparked by roofing materials.
Coquitlam Fire and Rescue Chief Tony Delmonico said they received about 30 calls Monday, just before 6:30 p.m., reporting the billowing black smoke coming off the roof of the building at 2764 Barnet Hwy.
Two engines and 17 fire fighters battled the rooftop blaze and had it "knocked down very quickly," Delmonico said.
"It looked pretty spectacular when crews arrived," he added. "Building materials tend to do that - a lot of the old roofing is petroleum based and it creates a large volume of black smoke."
Crews had been working on the building's roof for about a week and were nearly finished the new torch-on roof.
Delmonico said the roof membrane and HVAC system were damaged and there was minor water damage to the interior of the Dulux store, and possibly to the next-door spa, Shahnaz's Beauty Garden.
Dulux was expected to be open again for business on Tuesday but Delmonico said they were waiting for managers from the spa to arrive before determining whether that business could open its doors.
Investigators were also expected to return on Tuesday to determine the cause of the fire and interview building personnel as well as the roofers. Nobody was in either building at the time of the fire.
"Crews did an entry and search and luckily they were unable to find anybody inside which is good, because there was smoke in both businesses," Delmonico said.
