Just after 9 a.m. this morning, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, the Olde Oakville Market Place Plaza on Cornwall Road evacuated at least three of its businesses due to a reported fire.
According to Deputy Fire Chief Jeremy Inglis, the fire originally started in one of the ceiling HVAC units.
When the fire crew arrived on site, they saw "light smoke and haze in each of the units, but saw that one unit was worse than the others." Crews say the worsened unit belonged to the Beauty Institute and Spa.
The crew entered that unit, then pulling out their ceiling and saw that there was a fire in their HVAC unit.
Firefighters on scene put out the blaze quickly and were able to stop it very spreading further, potentially causing more structural damage to the facility.
The entire building is not required to have a smoke alarm, so once employees and customers smelt the toxic smoke coming from the HVAC, they left their units and called the fire department.
Thanks to the occupants' quick reactions to the smoke, no injuries were reported as a result of the fire.
The scene is now being given to the fire prevention team to conduct a full investigation as to how the HVAC unit fire ignited in the first place.
Deputy Fire Chief Inglis does expect that most units involved in the fire should be fully operational tomorrow. The Beauty Institute and Spa is expected to announce a re-opening date later this week, though no timeline has been provided.