Serbu Tire fire deemed suspicious
Arson investigators ask public for help as they look into cause of $500,000 blaze
The massive fire that caused the roof to collapse at Serbu Tire in Windsor early Sunday morning was suspicious in nature, say Windsor police.
Arson investigators are continuing to examine the blaze on the commercial property at 1597 Howard Ave. at about 6 a.m. Sunday.
No one was hurt, but there was extensive damage to the business.
Windsor Fire and Rescue Services have estimated the cost of the fire at more than $500,000 — an estimated $400,000 in damage to the building, and an additional $100,000 loss in contents.
It took emergency responders hours to bring the situation under control.
According to fire investigators, the flames were contained to the tire shop area of the business, despite the roof and a front wall collapsing. No one was on the property at the time of the fire, and no one was injured.
In looking for clues, Windsor police reminded the public that even “a small detail you may not think is relevant” could be a key piece of evidence.
Large clouds of black smoke could be seen passing over the area Sunday morning.
Neighbours say the building was fully engulfed in bright orange flames.
“The fire came in about 6:05 a.m. and we did two upgrades on the fire — it did go to third alarm,” said Chief fire prevention officer John Lee.
Howard Avenue was closed between Windsor Avenue and Shepherd Street as around 30 firefighters battled the flames.
Windsor Fire tweeted around 7 a.m. asking residents in the area and west of Howard to close their windows due to the nature of the fire.
“Because there were tires in the building as a precaution early on we had told through social media people should close their windows and shelter in place we did not do any evacuations,” Lee said.
The fire was contained to the tire shop itself and while the building behind Serbu Tire had scorching on the exterior wall the flames did not spread.
Although the business had welding equipment and acetylene inside there were no explosions and the fire was contained to the garage itself.
At about 9 a.m. a combination of the front of the building and the roof collapsed which helped to aid in firefighting efforts, granting more access to the building.
“Crews did an exterior attack only. They did not enter the building once they were able to determine that nobody was inside due to the nature of the business,” Lee said.
The fire came in about 6:05 a.m. and we did two upgrades on the fire — it did go to third alarm.