Hi-Velocity Systems Fire News

EDMONTON - Kyle Coates and his girlfriend were heading home from the Oilers game Tuesday night when they spotted smoke looming from an industrial park between Yellowhead Trail and the CN Railyard.

The expansive Energy Saving Products shop at 124th Street and 126th Avenue was in flames.

"I called the fire department; they were here within five minutes," Coates said.

More crews were called to tackle the two-alarm blaze from all sides, but it spread quickly. In all, 18 trucks responded.

As the flames ate away at the roof, they flickered at an unnaturally quick pace, feeding off the natural gas inside.

"There was a bit of a delay turning the gas off," emergency services spokeswoman Jill McCormick said.

Employees who arrived on scene told crews that there was, among other things, a substantial amount of glue in the building.

Grey smoke rose up and moved east, and crews monitored air quality, but the smoke dissipated before reaching any nearby residences.

By about 10:45 p.m., the entire roof had collapsed and walls had buckled inward. The building looked to be destroyed, and it continued to burn past midnight.

No one was inside the building at the time of the fire, McCormick said. The company manufactured heating and cooling equipment in the shop.

"I've been there for almost five years," employee Bill MacKenzie said as he watched his workplace burn. "I'm not sure what we're going to do now, especially in these times."

The Energy Saving Products building on 124th Street just north of Yellowhead Trail was destroyed by fire on Tuesday night.

A heating and cooling company plans to set up in a temporary location after its headquarters was destroyed Tuesday night in a $4-million fire.

Shortly before 10 p.m., flames broke out at Energy Saving Products at 126th Avenue and 124th Street. Fans on the way home from the Edmonton Oilers game spotted the blaze and called 911.

Initially fed by natural gas, the flames ate away at the roof and two walls. A pile of debris was all that was left by Wednesday morning.

Plant manager Ryan Stearns said a meeting will be held Friday with the 24 employees. "We already have some temporary locations in mind. Our goal is to be back up and running in four to six weeks."

Stearns said the locally owned company has some older equipment in storage they can use.

"The fire department was actually able to save our backup computer," Stearns said. "That has a lot of day-to-day operations on it, so that's huge for us."

Fire investigators have not yet determined the cause of the blaze, department spokesman John Muir.

Arson has not been ruled out. "Everything is still on the table, as far as a potential cause goes," he said.

The business, which originally started in a small Edmonton garage, celebrated its 25th anniversary last year.

2-alarm fire destroys north end business

Fire destroyed a business at 124th Street and 126th Avenue in Edmonton on Tuesday night. (Submitted by Robert Hockey)

A heating and air conditioning business was destroyed by a fire in north Edmonton on Tuesday night.

Firefighters were called to Energy Savings Products at 126th Avenue and 124th Street around 10 p.m.

Kyle Coates was in a car on the Yellowhead with his girlfriend coming home from an Oilers game at Rexall Place when he spotted smoke coming out of the back of the warehouse-type building.

When the couple turned off the highway to get a closer look, they found part of the building in flames.

"I called the fire department," Coates said. "They were here within three, four minutes."

When crews arrived, the building was engulfed in flames, and it wasn't long before the roof collapsed.

Investigators are still determining the cause of the fire, Edmonton fire services spokesman John Muir said.

"We've been initially told by some of the people that work here that it could be things like glue, but we do have investigators, and hazmat [hazardous materials teams] are on scene to help determine the cause of what's inside the building," he said.

CBC News

Employees of a torched manufacturing business are left with burning questions after investigators determined last week’s multimillion-dollar inferno was deliberately set.

Someone set the manufacturing business, Energy Saving Systems, ablaze through the night on Jan. 26, and CEO Leon Prevost said he hasn’t the first clue who’s responsible.

“I have no theories and am just dumbfounded as to why someone would do this,” he said. “We have security, we had our gates locked and we thought we were doing everything right. Obviously, someone found a way to get in that we didn’t think about.”

Investigators have not yet pinpointed a cause of the $4-million blaze in the warehouse at 126 Avenue and 124 Street, or released information on any possible suspects.

“Investigators asked me if I have disgruntled employees — many have been working here for over five years, and some that have left still come over for lunch.”

Office staff are set to go back to work today. Operations will resume, as soon as a new site is chosen for the family-run business. Prevost credits his “remarkable” staff for picking up the pieces so quickly.

He added hopes of starting over would have gone up in smoke, were it not for items pulled from the inferno by firefighters.

“It’s not easy, but when the big guy upstairs gives you lemons, you make lemonade,” he said. “We owe so much to the crews and our staff.”

In addition to the Energy Saving Systems blaze, Edmonton saw a handful of arsons in January.

On Jan. 10, Molotov cocktails were hurled at the home of a former Syncrude oil executive. The home, located in an upscale Bearspaw cul-de-sac, was destroyed. Damages were estimated at $850,000.

On Jan. 26, a fire was deliberately set in the front of a home at 128 Street and 121 Avenue.

All are under investigation by the Edmonton Police Services arson unit.