A rack of stuffed animals at Mayfair Shopping Centre’s Toys “R” Us store bore the brunt of a fire on Wednesday afternoon.
Store employees reported the blaze about 2:05 p.m. after first using an extinguisher on it, said Victoria Fire Department Capt. Michael Schrank.
“Cause is undetermined at this time,” Schrank said.
“The origin was in the area of the stuffed animals, but whether the animals were actually lit or the tags on the animals or maybe display price tags, it’s pretty hard to tell.”
He said that police and a fire inspector are working to determine whether arson could have been involved.
Victoria police said the fire is suspicious in nature.
Video from the store’s security cameras will be reviewed, Schrank said.
Deputy Fire Chief Dan Atkinson said the cause of a fire is difficult to determine right away.
“Basically, any time that it’s of unknown origin, we make sure that we call in an investigator and let them do their work,” he said.
Toys “R” Us was closed through the afternoon. The rest of the mall remained open, though there was a smoky smell near the store.
Some people left the mall when alarms started going off, Schrank said.
“When we got here, the outside tarmac was filled with people because the bells were sounding.”
Mayfair general manager Laura Poland said the fire was contained immediately.
“Basically our building system did what it was supposed to do and bells rang,” she said. “We got a pretty quick ‘all clear’ from the fire department.
“When the bells ring, we do start to close things up and get people out, but it was cleared before we had the full evacuation.”
Schrank said investigators are keeping the April 9 fire at Home Depot in the University Heights Shopping Centre in mind.
Saanich police said that fire was deliberately set.
“Everybody wants to investigate [the Mayfair fire] thoroughly because of the Home Depot incident in Saanich,” Schrank said.
No one was hurt in the Home Depot fire, but nearby stores had to be closed.
