Crews battle fire at Shoppers Drug Mart in Thompson, Man.

Crews are again fighting a fire at the Shoppers Drug Mart and adjoining businesses in Thompson, Man., after initially responding to the same blaze at the business around 1:50 a.m. Thursday, RCMP say.

Mounties first went to the fire at the Selkirk Avenue drug store in the northern Manitoba city in the early morningand set up a perimeter around the area as the fire department put out the blaze, spokesperson Cpl. Julie Courchaine said in an email.

Around 5 a.m., RCMP were called back after the fire started up again, Courchaine said.

The fire spread and several adjoining businesses are engulfed in flames, an update from the RCMP said later Thursday morning.

Firefighters continue to battle the blaze.

WATCH | Fire burns at Thompson strip mall:

Fire destroys Shoppers Drug Mart in Thompson, Man.

2 years ago

Duration 0:38

A fire that broke out at at the Shoppers Drug Mart and engulfed several adjoining businesses in flames in Thompson, Man., early Thursday morning does not appear suspicious, RCMP say.

No injuries were reported.

At a minimum, the drug store is expected to be a total loss,Courchaine said. Whether all the surrounding businesses will survive is unclear.

"It wasn't looking very promising," she said.

Manitoba's office of the fire commissioner was notified about the fire, which does not appear suspicious, Courchaine said.

Thompson is about 650 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

'Heartbreaking'

Erin Wilcox, who owns a flower shop with her sister a few doors down from the businesses that went up in flames, said it's been difficult for them and other business owners in the strip mall towatch the fire burn from a parking lot across the street.

"It's been a blur. It's just been an incredibly emotional blur, watching everything kind of take hold," she said.

"We've had our shop in this location for 15 years, and it's heartbreaking seeing that it could be, you know, come to an end. And we're sitting with some of our neighbours watching it happen, and you know, lots of emotion."

Wilcox said she watched the roof on the Shoppers Drug Mart building collapseand crews take off the front wall to get better access to the flames. She saw about a dozen firefighters using hoses, several fire trucks, an ambulance and police at the scene.

She and her sister were able to get into their shop earlier in the morning to grab some of their books and other items, though even then, the business was flooded.

"It just started coming in the floor. There's a lot of snow in Thompson, so with all the water that they're fighting the fire with, it's creating a lot of slush and the water is getting backed up," she said.

While the community has a few other pharmacies, Wilcox said she's thinking about the impact losing the Shoppers Drug Mart will have on Thompson. The small city doesn't have a lot ofshopping options and it's possible many people will lose theirjobs.

She's also worried about the extent of the damage to her business and others around it.

"At the very least, there's definitely going to be some downtime for cleanup," she said.