‘Keep our heads up’: Saskatoon car dealership blaze deemed suspicious

An early morning fire at a Saskatoon car dealership on Wednesday resulted in vehicles and a building involved in the blaze.

The incident was reported to the Saskatoon Fire Department around 4:17 a.m. on March 25, according to a news release from the City of Saskatoon.

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The release detailed that firefighters arrived to see smoke and flames coming from a structure and vehicles on fire.

Fire crews used several hoses to put out the vehicle and building fires at the same time. The fire has been completely put out with no injuries. A fire investigator was on scene to examine it and identify the fire’s cause, origin and damage estimate.

650 CKOM has confirmed the fire happened at Daou Auto. In an interview, Randy Daou, owner of the dealership, said he got the call about the fire around 4:15 a.m. on Wednesday.

By the time he arrived at his business around 4:30 a.m., the fire was mostly out.

“The one west side of the wall was completely taken out into the building and six cars have been burnt,” Daou recalled.

His first thought at seeing the wreckage was, “What will I do now?”

Daou said it seemed like a fire that had started outside his building had gotten out of hand and spread. He said there was a blanket, some clothing bags and food in the same area where it appeared the fire had started.

“It’s been a long day,” Daou said. “I’ve been there for 22 years, right? Your whole life is in there.”

Daou joked that his employees enjoyed the day off. Some helped him today, moving things around and getting things out of the building.

He said he’ll have a temporary building brought to his lot next week, where he’ll remain open while rebuilding his business over the next three to six months.

Daou estimated it could be up to half a million dollars of damage to his property. The Saskatoon Fire Department put the number around $350,000 in an emailed response on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the fire department, the cause of the fire remains under investigation. It confirmed the dealership building and six vehicles are included in the damage estimate.

“Due to the fire being deemed suspicious in nature, the fire investigator has turned the investigation over to the Saskatoon Police Service,” the response noted.

Daou said he does have insurance, which should help cover some of his costs from the fire.

He wanted customers to know that he will be back in business in a few days – hopefully by Friday – at their usual address, 102 Avenue F South.

“Nobody’s going to scare me away,” Daou said.

“Keep our heads up and continue on business.”