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Maitland Street fire deemed suspicious by Halifax fire officials

City officials say a fire that destroyed a building under construction in downtown Halifax early Monday morning started under suspicious circumstances.

The three-storey structure on Maitland Street went up in flames at around 2:40 a.m.

Two nearby buildings had to be temporarily evacuated. Both were damaged by the fire, but no one was injured.

Brendan Elliott, a spokesperson with the Halifax Regional Municipality, said investigators finished their work at the scene at around 1 p.m. on Tuesday and concluded the cause of the fire is suspicious.

The city declined to give further details and said the case is now in the hands of the police.

Fire officials said Monday afternoon it's believed the fire broke out on the building's ground floor.