Flames and smoke filled the cold night sky as two large fires broke out in the Spruce Grove area, destroying a restaurant and three buildings.
Fire crews were called to Kelsey's Restaurant just off of Highway 16A shortly before 7:30 Friday night.
"When we initially arrived," said Const. Robert Munro, with the Spruce Grove RCMP. "It was just smoke but it quickly engulfed to full size flames."
It's believed the flames, which shot about 15 to 20 feet in the air, could be seen from Edmonton.
At one point, firefighters had to evacuate the building because the roof was going to collapse.
"Probably about 20 minutes, half an hour into the scene, we started pulling guys out of the building," said Deputy Fire Chief John Hynes with Edmonton Fire Rescue. "We went into defensive mode and actually started fighting the fire from the street."
Spruce Grove resident Jennifer Anderson was on hand with her camera, capturing the blaze on her camera.
"It's crazy," said Anderson. "I was invited to go to Kelsey's two days ago and I didn't go and now I missed my chance of ever going there again."
The restaurant was open for business at the time of the fire, everyone managed to escape without injury.
A few hours later, emergency crews responded to another fire near the community of Parkland Village, just north of Spruce Grove.
The blaze broke out at the Parkland Village maintenance yard shortly before 1:00 Saturday morning. The Country Hills Homes business which resides on the property also caught fire. Three buildings as well as several vehicles were destroyed. The buildings were unoccupied and no injuries were reported.
The cause of both fires is under investigation, but reports indicate the Parkland Village fire may have started in a trailer under renovation.
Foul play is not suspected in either fire. No damage estimates have been released and the fires are not believed to be related.
With files from Scott Roberts
