The blaze started in a space between floors near the centre of the structure at 10 Commercial St., “which allowed the fire to quickly spread throughout the building,” said Ennis Mond, the department’s chief fire prevention officer, in a statement.

“These are very difficult fires to fight.”

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Fire investigators said a power disruption reported in the vicinity of downtown in the afternoon before the early-evening fire is not believed to have been a contributing factor.

The fire has been classified as accidental.

The structure that burned was actually three buildings in one and covered an entire city block. It was on the Nanaimo Heritage Registry. There were 10 office spaces upstairs and five occupied retail spaces on the ground floor.

Among the building occupants were Bastion Gallery Fast Frames, Hired Guns Creative graphic-design shop, a clothing store, three art studios and the Nanaimo Arts Council. Several artists had dropped off material for a council exhibition the day of the fire.

“Fires of this magnitude are a rare occurrence in Nanaimo and the investigation team worked very hard to reach this conclusion as quickly as possible,” Fire Chief Craig Richardson said in a statement.

“Our thoughts are with the tenants as they continue to re-establish their businesses moving forward.”

Other businesses stepped up both during and after the blaze to offer help, offering food and meals to firefighters and those affected by the fire. Nanaimo Mayor Bill McKay said the co-operative effort is continuing on behalf of the people who worked in the building.

“The community’s working very, very hard to get them alternate places and fundraising for them and working with the property owner to relocate.”

jwbell@timescolonist.com