Suspicious late-night fire damages North Shore fast food restaurant

Photo: Tim Petruk

A worker shovels up burned debris on Friday morning behind the North Shore A&W, the site of a suspicious fire late Thursday night.

A suspicious fire caused minor damage to the outside of the A&W restaurant in North Kamloops on Friday morning.

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

While no one was injured, 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 on Friday, 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. Wendy’s was rebuilt and opened last month.

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