Photo: Heartland Regional Fire remained on the scene Feb. 26 in Big Valley as the remnants of the market still smoked. Rural Alberta Report/S.Salkeld

UPDATE: Investigators have not yet determined what sparked the incident but police say the circumstances are being treated as suspicious and are under active investigation.

A major retail store in the Village of Big Valley was destroyed by fire Feb. 26, the fire authority noted.

The Big Valley Market was destroyed in a blaze, confirmed County of Stettler Communications Officer Niki Thorsteinsson in a phone call Feb. 26.

Thorsteinsson stated the emergency call came in at 3:30 a.m., and Heartland Regional Fire Services responded from four stations. Thorsteinsson noted that, as far as she knows, Heartland was the only department that responded to the fire.

She stated that senior Heartland fire officials attended the scene and remain there as of this writing.

Thorsteinsson added that the investigation into the fire’s cause is underway. No cause is known at this time and no damage estimate is available, although when the Rural Alberta Report photographer shot photos at the scene Feb. 26, the Big Valley Market building was essentially gone.

Village of Big Valley Mayor Clark German confirmed the building was destroyed.

“Information is limited at this time, but I can confirm that the grocery store was destroyed last night by fire,” stated German in a Feb. 26 email.

“Emergency crews, fire and RCMP, are still on site. I have no information on possible damage to adjacent structures or if any injuries occurred as a result of the incident. It is still an active emergency scene.”

Feb 26, 2026 Corrections of the date and time of the original post were corrected as of this publication at 5:09pm.