A fire at a business on the Island Highway has been deemed suspicious by Parksville Fire Rescue.
The fire department was called to the business shortly before 6 a.m. this morning (March 10), according to Mike Tisdelle, assistant fire chief.
The duty officer found a fire at the rear of the building, which was spreading into the attic truss space, Tisdelle said.
The first engine crew to arrive attacked the fire in the building's interior, Tisdelle said, with the second crew hitting the fire from its aerial, working from the rear of the building.
It took a "considerable amount of hard work" for crews to get at the fire in the truss space, as they had to get through several layers of ceiling renovations commonly found in older buildings, he added.
"There is significant fire, smoke and water damage in the structure," Tisdelle said. "The fire is under investigation and is considered suspicious currently."
No one was injured in the fire, he said. There was some minor water infiltration under a door into a neighbouring building, but no other reported damage to adjacent structures.
Parksville Fire Rescue had 23 personnel on scene.
