Zebra Centre closed, fundraising for new inventory after arson

Damage created by a deliberately set fire has forced the Zebra Child and Youth Advocacy Centre to close for the rest of the week.

Firefighters were called to WSP Place twice on Tuesday: once at 5:38 a.m., when they found a fire on the top floor was already out by the time they arrived, and again at 9 a.m. when more smoke was reported, Edmonton Fire Rescue Services told CTV News Edmonton.

Zebra Centre operates on the seventh floor of the building and has a storage space on the top floor. The supplies that were stored there are not safe to be used and will need to be replaced.

"Everything is just a mess, and to expedite the reclamation of the space they've had to clear out everything," CEO Emmy Stuebing told CTV News Edmonton. "We weren't allowed to go in and collect anything."

Zebra Centre hopes restoration work will be completed by Monday so it can re-open.

"During this time, our multi-disciplinary team is being deployed to several temporary locations across the city to maintain supports for children and youth who have experienced abuse.

"We are doing our best to make these experiences as child-friendly as possible, but we know the ideal experience is to come to the Zebra Centre. Therefore, we are 100 per cent committed to re-open as soon as possible," Stuebing said in a statement.

Zebra Centre is only accepting monetary donations as it does not have the space to store physical donations. Donations can be made online and will be used to rebuild its inventory of "soft comforts" – things like backpacks, cuddly toys, quilts, clothes, snacks, toiletries and more.

"We try to look after any possible need that a child and their family might have when they come to the Zebra Centre," Stuebing said. "We can't look after them forever, but we make them comfortable in that moment that is such a hard time for them."

Edmonton Police Service confirmed the fire is being investigated as arson and caused "significant damage" to the building.

"There is more water damage than fire damage," said Michael Surkovic, co-COO of ProCura, the company that owns the building. "The fire damage is actually quite limited. It was a very small fire."

There is no damage estimate yet.

Anyone with information is asked to call police.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jessica Robb