Police and fire crews responded to heavy smoke in an Oak Bay coffee shop Tuesday afternoon.
Gord Taylor, battalion chief of the Victoria Fire Department, said the department was called in around 12:10 p.m. for a report of smoke coming out of a second floor balcony. When crews arrived they found heavy black smoke coming from a vent in the exterior of the building.
Crews extinguished the smoke and entered the Good Earth coffeehouse through the building’s parkade. There, they found an electrical issue in the storage room’s false ceiling.
Officers are responding to assist firefighters at a fire reported at a coffee shop in the 1000-block of Foul Bay Road. We'll be working with @OakBayPolice to control traffic & help keep everyone in the area safe. #yyjtraffic will be impacted. Please use a different route. #yyj
— Victoria Police (@vicpdcanada) September 29, 2020
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There was smouldering but no flames. There will be some water and electrical damage but Taylor said it’s too early to estimate the cost of the damage.
Skylar Clysdale, a lash technician at Hush Lash Studio, said she smelled smoke but thought it was construction workers paving a nearby road.
“All of the sudden the construction workers ripped open the door and said, ‘I think you’re on fire,'” she recalled, adding that she and other employees saw smoke coming from the ledge of the Good Earth Coffeehouse, which has been closed for a number of months due to COVID-19.
Apartment residents above the café said construction workers yelled from below for them to exit the building.
Victoria and Oak Bay police assisted firefighters with traffic control in the area. Traffic was impacted on Oak Bay Avenue between Mitchell Street and Amphion Street and on Foul Bay Road from Oak Bay Avenue to Granite Street. Crews asked the public to use an alternate route if heading through the area.
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