Police are investigating a suspicious fire that damaged a building in St. Henri early Tuesday.
Responding to an alarm at an abandoned grocery store on Notre Dame St. near Workman St., police found the building’s front window smashed and saw a fire inside around 1:30 a.m.
About 25 firefighters were called to the scene and quickly extinguished the blaze. No one was in the store or in the two residential floors above it since the building was undergoing renovations.
“Maybe the renovations played a role in starting the fire but our people couldn’t figure out what caused it,” said fire department spokesperson Melanie Drouin. "The fire was contained within minutes of our arrival so we limited the amount of damage it caused."
The investigation has been transferred to the Montreal police’s arson squad. Police say the fire started in the building's basement.
