Hot spots are still flaring up at a restaurant in Bedford, Nova Scotia after it went up in flames early Tuesday.
Fire crews responded to the blaze at the one-storey building that houses the Persepolis Food Market and the Tu Do Restaurant just before 2 a.m. on the Bedford Highway.
When they arrived, the building was already fully engulfed with flames shooting through the roof.
"When the fire is through the roof it's unsafe to put any firefighters inside to make an interior attack," says Capt. Kevin Reade of the Halifax Regional Fire Service. "So that was the biggest challenge right there."
A portion of the Bedford Highway, between Meadowlark Drive and Sullivans Hill Road, was shut down for nearly four hours.
It re-opened around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The building has been a fixture in Bedford for decades and has housed as number of restaurants.
The daughter of the restaurant owners says her parents have insurance, but they are devastated because they worked for more than 20 years to build the business and the building was their second location.
"It's hard to build up again…and it's always hard to get a contractor," says Mongdip MacDuff. "So it's just…I don't know what to think. It's just a little upsetting."
There is no word at this time on what caused the blaze but no one was in the restaurant when it started and no injuries were reported.
Fire investigators will remain on the scene throughout the day as they try to determine a cause.
Reade says the heaviest damage is in the restaurant but the entire structure may be a loss.
