CBC-TV Edmonton - Fire tore along Whyte Avenue Thursday night, destroying seven businesses and killing animals in a pet store.
The blaze began about 10 p.m. and the flames spread quickly through the century-old wooden buildings at the corner of Whyte and 104th Streetd.
And while crews battled the fire, police had to deal with an unruly group of hundreds of gawkers who gathered to watch the spectacle.
It took firefighters about four hours to get the huge fire under control, the second in the city in three days. On Tuesday, fire claimed a downtown apartment building, leaving people in 20 suites homeless, and trapping five firefighters under the rubble of a collapsed parkade for about half an hour.
The businesses destroyed in Thursday's fire are Albert's Pancake House, Carol's Quality Sweets, New York Bagel Cafe, Silver Star Psychic Studio, Metaphysical Books and Sound, Plaid Giraffe and Scale and Tails
