A fire at a Cookstown grocery store has temporarily closed the entire plaza it is attached to.
Innisfil Fire and Rescue Services personnel, South Simcoe police and County of Simcoe paramedics were called to a blaze at the Cookstown Foodland, located in a strip mall on Queen Street in the village, shortly before 6 a.m. on July 5.
Fire Chief Brent Thomas tells InnisfilToday there was “smoke mitigation” in all units within the plaza. As a result, the entire plaza will be closed until a structural engineer, employment standards, InnPower and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit give permission for occupancy.
“Structural damage to the roof,” he said in an email Friday.
No one was inside the grocery store at the time of the incident, Thomas said.
South Simcoe police spokesperson Isabella Soligo says that when officers arrived the fire seemed to be minor and under control.
“Innisfil Fire advised police there appeared to be a ‘hot spot’ on an electrical panel area of Foodland,” she said. “While firefighters were extinguishing the fire, the store filled with smoke.”
The incident is still under investigation, Soligo said.
