Multiple businesses left reeling after fire tears through Surrey strip mall
Posted March 25, 2025 7:07 am.
Last Updated March 25, 2025 2:20 pm.
A devastating fire tore through a Surrey strip mall early Monday morning, and multiple businesses have been left unsure about what comes next.
Among those affected is a local pharmacy, where employee Soji Alakofa expressed concern over the future of the pharmacy’s operations.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!“We don’t know the extent of this. They could need to pull the whole thing down … I don’t know. By the time they do their own professional assessment in terms of what they need to do, that’s when they will determine what they have in mind for the whole structure,” Alakofa explained.
Alakofa voiced worries about the impact on local residents who rely on the pharmacy for their medication.
“Certainly we have some medication in the safe, those ones should be good, but we don’t want any medication like … Concern for the public too if medication in boxes are smoke damaged, we don’t know, we have to be able to access … to see deposit of soot or smoke or carbon,” Alakofa explained.
Shortly after 2:30 a.m. Monday, Surrey Police Service officers were patrolling the City Centre neighbourhood when they “noticed smoke and a burning smell coming from a small strip mall” near 108 Avenue and City Parkway.
Speaking to 1130 NewsRadio Monday, Surrey Deputy Fire Chief Rich Bodnark said crews did second alarm protocols, “sending additional fire trucks and personnel.”
“We did an aerial operation suppressing and extinguishing the fire,” he explained, adding that nine firetrucks and 27 firefighters attended the scene.
The damaged strip mall also houses the All Nations Church, which serves the area’s Spanish- and African-speaking communities.
“The restaurant there is completely gone, and there is the religious worship centre too that’s affected,” said Alakofa.
While the Surrey Police Service has confirmed that the fire is not suspicious and a suspect has been released, investigators are still working to determine the cause of the blaze.
