Overnight fire leaves Regina business with ‘tens of thousands’ in damages

An overnight fire has left a Regina business facing thousands of dollars in damages after flames spread from burning pallets outside into the store’s warehouse.

Dwight Hubick, purchaser and receiver at Auto Parts Plus, said he heard about the fire through a co-worker who sent him a photo.

“He sent me a text of a picture of it on social media and asked, ‘What happened?’ So, that was the first I heard of it as well,” he said. “It was a shock, definitely, to even see the picture.”

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Taylor Cobb, the store’s assistant manager, said she rushed to the scene after getting a phone call around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“By the time any of us got here, it was obviously onto the building,” Cobb said. “Lots of us found out from social media before we found out from anybody actually able to call.”

A worker sorts through charred wooden pallets outside Auto Parts Plus off Albert Street in Regina, where a fire spread from burning pallets into the building’s exterior and warehouse. (Jacob Bamhour/980 CJME)

Regina Fire and Protective Services were called around 11 p.m. to McIntyre Street, where flames from wooden pallets spread into the building’s exterior and warehouse.

Once firefighters got the blaze under control, staff began assessing the losses. Cobb said the damage hit multiple sections of the warehouse.

Hubick estimates major losses to the store’s inventory, especially in certain parts lines.

“Our one line of pretty much electrical stuff; switches, pigtails, stuff like that, probably about 75 percent of that line is going to be lost,” he explained.

Water damage from firefighting efforts also impacted some of the stock.

“We’ve got to open up those boxes, go through the parts and make sure that there’s no water inside, because otherwise, the parts are going to be no good with rust and everything else,” Hubick said.

Altogether, Hubick estimates the damage could run into “tens of thousands of dollars.”

Regina police and fire investigators continue to look into how the blaze started. Regina Fire confirmed that the fire is being considered suspicious.

“We were just told that somebody lit a fire in the pallets and it spread to the building,” Cobb said. “I can’t confirm that or deny it at the time, though.”

Thankfully, the store was closed when the fire broke out, and no injuries were reported.

Auto Parts Plus remains open in sections of the building unaffected by the fire, though staff said it could take time to fully assess losses and replenish stock.