Twenty vehicles worth estimated $5M destroyed in fire at Calgary high-end dealership
· Toronto Sun
A fire that tore through a high-end car dealership in southwest Calgary earlier this week caused an estimated $10 million in damage, half of which is tied to destroyed vehicles, say fire officials.
At least 20 cars believed to be exotic, luxury vehicles were destroyed in the Monday blaze , accounting for roughly $5 million in damage, with another $5 million estimated in building and property damage, according to Calgary Fire Department public information officer Alex Kwan.
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Kwan said investigators did not have confirmation on all vehicles that were inside the structure.
Fire crews were called to the 5500 block of 1A Street S.W. at around 4:30 a.m. Monday after reports of light smoke coming from a building that houses Tunerworks, an auto body shop, and Kulu Motorcar, a luxury car dealership. Upon arrival, firefighters discovered a rapidly growing fire inside the structure.
According to its website, Kulu Motorcar specializes in sourcing and selling rare, high-end automobiles from around the world. Past listings on the dealership’s website show models from brands such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, McLaren and Rolls-Royce. The dealership declined Postmedia’s request for comment.
‘Early morning disbelief’
Steve Hagopian, a partner in the ownership group behind Tunerworks, described feeling “early morning disbelief” Monday as firefighters poured water onto the building.
“It sunk in when the sun rose and we realized that we didn’t have our old showroom, home and office desks to go back to,” Hagopian said.
Tunerworks, founded in 1999, has operated out of the Manchester Industrial location for nearly two decades.
“It’s a tight-knit team that’s been together for a long time,” he said. “I think that just getting staff back into a routine as quick as possible . . . that kind of helps to heal some of the short-term wounds.”
While the Tunerworks side of the building remains standing, Hagopian said the ownership group has been told the structure is too damaged to return to.
Staff were briefly allowed inside Wednesday afternoon with the Calgary Fire Department, but Hagopian said little appeared salvageable.
“There’s just too much damage,” he said. “We will not operate from that building again.”
Hagopian said flames did not reach inside the Tunerworks portion of the structure, noting the businesses are separated by a cinder block firewall. However, smoke, heat and water caused significant damage inside the shop, he said.
The ownership group also runs Riegel Tuning, a Porsche specialist shop about half a block away, where a temporary office has now been set up for the roughly six staff who worked out of the damaged building.
The group also owns two other buildings on the same block — a tire shop and a 16-bay service centre.
“We’re very fortunate to have the three other buildings on the same block,” Hagopian said. “Customers won’t be inconvenienced at all.”
A Porsche and a BMW inside the Tunerworks portion of the structure sustained significant smoke, heat and water damage, he said. It’s unclear whether either vehicle can be repaired.
Hagopian did not provide an exact estimate of their value, but said the damage would likely pale in comparison to the losses suffered on the dealership side of the building.
“I don’t know the details of exactly what was there (inside the dealership). But I think it’s safe to say some of Calgary’s finest, most special vehicles were there,” he said.
‘A big loss’: Some cars irreplaceable
Othman Ali, founder of the Bespoke Car Club, said placing a value on rare, highly customized luxury vehicles can be difficult.
“It’s a tough question to answer,” Ali said. “That price can be subjective.
“Some of the cars that (Kulu) has . . . are not replaceable cars, so it’s a big loss.”
Because many bespoke vehicles are produced in limited numbers and customized to buyer specifications, their value can fluctuate significantly, Ali said, pointing to recent sales in which rare Ferrari models have jumped hundreds of thousands of dollars in value in a matter of months.
Ali said many in Calgary’s automotive community feel for the dealership owner, describing the situation as “a nightmare.”
“He’s a great person, so that’s why a lot of people in the car community feel sad that this happened to him,” he said.
The cause of the fire remains unknown. Fire department officials are set to return to the scene on Thursday to continue their investigation, Kwan said.
At the time of the blaze, Calgary Fire Department battalion chief Scott Cowan said vehicles inside the building were “completely destroyed.”
A Postmedia journalist who attended the scene observed that the southeast walls and part of the roof had collapsed, exposing what appeared to be the dealership showroom. Multiple vehicles inside appeared heavily damaged, with blackened and twisted frames.
No injuries were reported.
The size of the blaze prompted crews to call a second alarm to bring additional resources to the scene. In total, about 75 firefighters and 25 fire apparatus responded.