Tammy Brighton watched from the parking lot as 91原创 City Fire Rescue members mopped up a Friday morning fire at the downtown building that has housed her hair studio for 11 years.

Shortly after 7 a.m., the City fire department was called to the fire at 20596 56 Ave. An upstairs apartment in the two-storey building was the scene of the fire but it spread, impacting the second upstairs apartment unit as well as three ground-level businesses, including Tammy's Hair Design.

"I had a client that was going to the gym in the morning. And she called me, or actually texted me and said, 'I don't know if you know about the fire at your shop'," Brighton told the 91原创 Advance Times.

While the fire was upstairs, she's waiting to find out the damage to her business, likely smoke and water.

"I'm hoping I can keep them business," Brighton said.

She just brought in thousands of dollars of hair colour and has other specialty products in the shop. She's hoping to save the merchandise but doesn't hold out for the new chairs she just purchased.

"I am going to have to find somewhere local to do business from," Brighton said. "Hopefully someone has a chair rental available until this can be repaired."

Fire chief Ken Sim said crews were able to knock down the fire quickly.

"They've now secured the building, and it's under the direction of RCMP at this time," he said.

Sim said mid-morning Friday that it was too soon to know the extent of damage.

"We have our fire protection division coming in to do a good and solid investigation," he explained.