St. Nick pix nixed, dozen businesses forced to close after fire at Brandon’s Shoppers Mall

Posted on December 17, 2024 by Peggy

The hustle and bustle of the holiday shopping season in western Manitoba has been interrupted after a fire at its largest shopping centre.

Several business inside Shoppers Mall in Brandon were forced to temporarily or permanently end their mall business as a result of smoke and water damage that resulted from the fire, according to Brandon Fire & Emergency Services.

Fire department Capt. Shayne Collister was among the firefighters called to Shoppers Mall around 8:20 a.m. Monday.

“When we first arrived there was concern that perhaps there was some smoke coming from the ventilation system, but after further investigation we found that it was a small fire that was contained in one of the stores,” Collister told CBC on Tuesday.

He said a wooden beam being used as a shelving unit with hot water tanks above it was smouldering and producing hot embers and smoke damage.

The fire was quickly extinguished, but sprinklers went off, causing water damage.

No injuries were sustained, Collister said, but the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Businesses within the mall with direct public access from outside were permitted to open at their own discretion later Monday after it was deemed safe to do so, Shoppers Mall marketing manager Megan Anderson said.

The mall resumed regular business hours on Tuesday but 10 businesses — Spencer’s, Telus, Scotiabank, The Children’s Place, Claire’s, Virgin Mobile, Hair Today, Bootlegger, Prairie Mountain Health Vaccine Clinic and Western Manitoba Regional Library — have closed until further notice, Shoppers Mall announced on social media Tuesday afternoon.

Seasonal retailers Country Barnboard and PJ’s & More both informed Anderson that their temporary tenancy, which ends Dec. 31, is over.

Photos with Santa have also been cancelled for the remainder of the holiday season.

“I’m pretty devastated for my stores that have to close, especially the ones that have told me that they’ve had to close indefinitely,” Anderson said Tuesday. “I had to close my Santa set. We’re no longer offering Santa photos because the set sustained some damage.

“It’s pretty sad, not what you want at Christmas time at all.”

She says the mall has been directing people who were looking to or had already booked Santa photos before Christmas Day to get in touch with the city’s two other Santa photo locations — Champion Digital and Green Spot Home and Garden.

“Anybody who’s been contacting me that they had booked reservations, I’m trying to help them get into their or do something for them,” Anderson said.