Fire at North Kamloops A&W considered suspicious

A suspicious fire caused minor damage to the outside of the A&W restaurant in North Kamloops early this morning. There were no injuries reported.

Kamloops Fire Rescue responded to the fire in the Fortune Shopping Centre just before 1 a.m. today, Jan. 14, to find some plastic trays and pallets up against the building’s west-facing exterior wall ablaze.

There was some damage to the building’s exterior trim and signage, as well as to a storage shed, Platoon Capt. Darrell Cooper said.

Firefighters remained on scene until 2:30 a.m. The restaurant was not open at he time, having closed at 10 p.m.

A worker at A&W said the restaurant still opened for business today, but its drive-thru service was not operational as firefighters broke through that part of the building it to check for fire extension in the ceiling.

Cooper confirmed firefighters gained forced entry to the building through that window to check for damage to the main building’s interior, but found no fire damage, only some light smoke.

He said investigators will now be examining the fire as a possible arson.

It’s not the first fire at a Fortune Drive fast food franchise in recent memory, but it did have a better outcome.

On April 10, 2020, flames engulfed the Wendy's restaurant directly across the street from the A&W, but Wendy’s was rebuilt and reopened in mid-December 2021, almost two years after the fire.

KFR said the cause of the Wendy’s fire was undetermined because too much damage had occurred to know where it had started.

— This story was originally published by Kamloops This Week.