March 14, 2003: Overnight fire destroys historic buildings on Whyte Avenue

Fifteen years ago, the corner of 104th Street and Whyte Avenue went up in flames, leaving several businesses in ruin.

The blaze broke out at around 10 p.m. on March 13 and took firefighters almost four hours to bring the fire under control.

Uncle Albert's Pancake House, New York Bagel Cafe and a pet store, Scales and Tails, were consumed by the fire and later demolished.

The following day, Mayor Bill Smith surveyed the damage on the popular Whyte Avenue corner.

"I'm sure everybody realizes that this is just a terrible disaster," Smith said.

Nobody was hurt in the fire, though some animals at the pet store were killed.

Once the cleanup was complete, buildings with facades that fit in with the area's historic character replaced those lost to in the fire.

Near the end of March 2003, the fire was ruled accidental, with damages pegged at $3 million.

In the video, CBC's James Cudmore shows the scale of the fire and how Whyte Avenue changed overnight.