Hamilton’s fire chief says an early-morning blaze currently considered suspicious has damaged multiple stores at a strip mall in the city. 

David Cunliffe issued a statement saying crews were called to the fire at the mall on Upper Ottawa Street shortly before 3 a.m. on Easter Sunday.

He says the fire began in a hair and nail salon within the mall but quickly spread to nearby units and triggered multiple alarms.

Cunliffe says the fire has since been extinguished, but the hair salon is completely destroyed, three other units have sustained damage, and the flames compromised the roof truss structure above the unit where the fire first broke out.

He says the fire is currently being treated as suspicious, adding the damage estimates currently total more than $1 million.

“Through video surveillance we’ve been able to establish that this is an arson and we’re treating it as a suspicious fire,” confirmed fire arson investigator Det. Greg Blunsdon with Hamilton police.

Hamilton Police and the Ontario Fire Marshall’s office have been called in to investigate.