British ColumbiaFlames from the bottle depot fire could be seen several kilometres away. It’s not yet known if the fire, on 1st Avenue in Prince George, B.C., is suspicious, but police are looking for leads.Not yet known if fire is suspicious but police are looking for leadsAndrew Kurjata · CBC News · Posted: Sep 29, 2025 5:58 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoThe Nechako Bottle Depot on 1st Ave. in downtown Prince George was destroyed by a fire that started the morning of Sept. 28, 2025. (Hanna Petersen/CBC)RCMP are investigating after yet another major fire destroyed a business in downtown Prince George, B.C.Early Sunday, crews were called to the Nechako Bottle Depot on 1st. Avenue, a bottle and can return-it centre housed in a warehouse near the CN Rail tracks.Flames could be seen for several kilometres and large chunks of ash drifted onto people’s homes blocks away, while some residents reported hearing explosion-like noises.Nobody was in the building when the fire started and no injuries have been reported but it took fire crews several hours to extinguish the flames and the building was completely destroyed.Flames from the Nechako Bottle Depot fire in downtown Prince George could be seen several kilometres away. (Tabitha Strykiwsky)Fire chief Bryan Burleigh said CN Rail also had to move some of its nearby trains due to the risks posed to them by the fire.”It’s a devastating thing for our community, for the property owner, for the people that work there,” he said. “Hopefully they’ll be able to rebuild and navigate through their insurance and resurrect their business and the livelihoods that it supported.”It’s not yet known whether the cause of the fire is suspicious but in a release police have asked local businesses to check their video surveillance “to see if there is any movement caught around the Bottle Depot between 4:30 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. the morning of the fire.”Second business burnedIt is the second major fire to destroy a downtown business in the northern B.C. city in just a matter of weeks, following the destruction of CrossRoads Brewing on Sept. 5, in a suspected arson. Debris from Sunday’s bottle depot fire drifted through air and landed on properties nearby. This large chunk of debris fell on a lawn several blocks away. (Robert Edge)One man has been arrested in that case and is being held in custody after pleading not guilty to the charge.The brewery fire has become a flashpoint in ongoing concerns about public safety downtown, with many business owners complaining about the constant threat of intentionally-set fires to their businesses and the owners of CrossRoads saying they will not re-open unless they see positive change.Those perspectives were delivered by Prince George city council to Victoria at last week’s Union of B.C. Municipalities meetings, which wrapped on Friday with Premier David Eby announcing Prince George, along with Surrey, will be the next location to house an involuntary care facility, which he says should help alleviate some concerns.More news from northern B.C.With files from Hanna Petersen
RCMP seek video after Nechako Bottle Depot fire in Prince George
