The fire that consumed the Salvation Army building on Christmas Day was human started, according to a recently completed investigation by the Prince Albert Fire Department and a third party insurance investigator.
Prince Albert Fire Department Deputy Chief Alex Paul said the team finished their portion of the investigation on Monday and forwarded the results to the Prince Albert Police Service. Paul said investigators found “multiple fire starts” within the building, all of which were human caused.
“It’s very sad,” Paul said during an interview on Tuesday. “They provide a great service in the community…. It’s definitely a big loss to the community and we certainly hope the Salvation Army has an opportunity to rebuild or find a permanent location somewhere.”
Paul said the investigation was a challenging one. He said the roof collapsing, recent snowfall levels, and coats of ice created when firefighters sprayed the building with water all combined to limit access.
Parts of the building sit overtop of a basement. The floor over the basement has destabilized, and Paul said that further restricted investigators.
“The entire building has not been gone through because of safety issues, but they did get to the point where they know that it wasn’t an accidental start,” Paul said. “They know that there were multiple starts in the area that they did cover.”
Paul said a contractor with a track hoe was on site to “methodically disassemble” a portion of the building where signs of a fire start were first found. After investigators found evidence of a fire start in that corner, they began searching the immediate area and found multiple other fire starts.
Paul stressed that it will be up to the Prince Albert Police Service to determine who started the fire.
“From a fire perspective, we’ve determined that the fire started within the building, (there were) multiple starts, and (it) was human caused,” Paul said. “That’s where our portion of the investigation ends and if anything more is to be done, the city police will follow up.”
Fire crews were called to the scene at around 7:55 p.m. on Christmas Day. Prince Albert firefighters arrived and entered the building to put out the fire, but soon began a more defensive approach due to heavy smoke, and extensive damage to the roof.
Fire crews were able to keep the fire from spreading, but the building sustained heavy damage and “is expected to be considered a total loss,” according to an update posted on the Fire Department Facebook page.
The Prince Albert Salvation Army has resumed operations at the Union Centre on Eighth Street East.
