John Smith Details $1.5 Million Windsor Market Fire Louis Ave Windsor

market fire louis ave windsor left Dijla & Al-Forat Food Market destroyed after a blaze broke out just after 1:30 a.m. in Windsor’s 700 block of Wyandotte Street East. Police closed Wyandotte Street between Aylmer and Marentette avenues while firefighters and emergency crews worked overnight.

John Smith, a fire service spokesman, said the main fire occupancy would definitely be a million plus dollars in damage and that losses across the four businesses could push past $1.5 million. He said there were no reports of injuries, and that it sounded like everybody was out of the building.

Wyandotte Street East

Windsor Fire & Rescue Services and Essex-Windsor Emergency Medical Service crews stayed on scene through the night as police advised nearby residents to keep windows closed because of heavy smoke. By 7 a.m. Wednesday, fire officials said they were using a defensive strategy and had the blaze under control.

Just before 9 a.m. Wednesday, officials said the fire was out. An aerial view showed the entire roof of the business collapsed and destroyed, and the fire also damaged three other commercial businesses along the block east of downtown Windsor.

Ontario Fire Marshal

Police and fire investigators were sent to the scene Wednesday morning to determine the origin and cause of the fire. Smith said, "We did contact the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office to report a high-loss fire," but the Ontario Fire Marshal was not sending an investigator.

For residents and businesses on Wyandotte Street East, the immediate issue is the closure and the smoke. The larger damage tally now sits with investigators and insurers, while the destroyed market leaves one more vacant storefront in a corridor that serves both local shopping and commuter traffic.