One of the business owners devastated by that massive strip mall fire in Saskatoon is speaking about his loss.

The Avenue E North building went up in smoke early Sunday morning. A collectibles shop owned by Terry Hokness was one of the stores gutted by the flames.

He was driving home, when he noticed smoke and flames shooting from the roof.

"I had actually just finished performing a dueling pianos show downtown, and I was done at 1:00 am. I was just driving home and I always drive past the business … It was on fire," Hokness said.

Hokness had just opened the shop three months ago.

Nearly everything he had was in the shop, including old records, Stars Wars and Beatles collectibles and old movie posters.

"It still hasn't even really sunk in. I still feel like I'm in a movie right now. It's just like, It's like impossible this has happened, and it's like, well, I guess life has changed," he said.

Hokness hasn't been allowed to go in yet, so he doesn't know for sure how much damage has been done. He hopes insurance will help cover his costs.

Still no word on how is started. Damage to the entire mall is pegged at around $1.5 million.

ccarr@rawlco.com

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