Early morning fire rips through downtown Port Coquitlam businesses

Port Coquitlam firefighters arecleaning up after a largeearly morning fire destroyed a numberof businesses in the city's downtown.

Mayor Greg Moore confirmed the four-alarm fire started in Martha's Bakery and Cafe which islocatedina strip mall in the 2200 block ofMcAllisterAvenue, betweenShaughnessyStreet and Mary Hill Road.

"The fire started at one end of this building. There's five different businesses within this building and they're doing their best to contain it," said Moore. "It will be hard to tell the extent of the damage for a while."

A nearby apartment manager who identified herself only as "Rita"called 911 after being awaken by an explosion around 4:30 a.m. PT.

"The blast woke me up and I heard glass breaking. And I thought 'oh my what's that?'" she said. "I got up and looked out and could see the building from my house and it was in full flames. It spread so fast."

The bakery, a wellness centre andCurves Fitness have been badly damaged by the fire. Other businesses in the strip mall have sustained water and smoke damage.

Coquitlam firefighters were put on standby in the event Port CoquitlamFireRescue neededassistance.

City officials took to twitter to warn people about traffic closures in the area.

Last year a large fire about a block away gutted four business and closed Port CoquitlamCity Hall.