A billowing blaze raged through a landmark restaurant in Gatineau's Hull sector Monday night.

Bright flames were already tearing fiercely at La Station Deli and Bar on Saint Joseph Boulevard when firefighters arrived shortly before 11 p.m. The building caved in within hours, the Gatineau fire department said.

The fire churned out massive clouds of smoke that enveloped and damaged the nearby health food store, la Boîte à Grains.

Local firefighting crews and reinforcements from Masson-Angers and Buckingham sectors struggled to keep the fire from spreading to neighbouring buildings, while Ottawa firefighters waited on standby.

The blaze was successfully extinguished by Tuesday morning and the nearby stretch of Saint Joseph Boulevard was to re-open by 9:30 a.m.

Last Tuesday, another fire destroyed a Portuguese restaurant in Hull sector, along with the apartments above it. Investigators concluded that fire was deliberately set.