``Some people have lost their homes here,'' said Ontario Provincial Police Const. Luke George, who spent all morning watching fire crews battle to control the blaze.
The fire was believed to have started at the rear of a bowling alley around 1 a.m. Tuesday. No injuries were reported.
But the blaze, which spewed thick black smoke into the air, spread to neighbouring buildings that had some second floor apartments, George said.
``The upper part of the structures have been destroyed by fire,'' he said.
And the bowling alley was completely destroyed by the fire, George said.
``It's a shell now.''
The fire is ``suspicious'' and the Ontario Fire Marshal's office was called in to investigate, George said.
Petrolia's main street has been shut down while investigators sift through the rubble.
The cost of the damage was unknown.
