A fire broke out at a Fernie storage facility on Sunday afternoon. The storage facility, located on Colclough Ave. was formerly used as a mechanic’s bay.
The fire, which started just before 2:00 PM took approximately 10 hours to completely extinguish.
No one was inside the building and a rescue operation was not necessary. However, the building’s structure also made the firefighting process more difficult.
The building is made of cinderblocks which made the fire “quite hard to put out.”
Because of the building’s cinderblock construction, going inside the building would have made the firefighting process unnecessarily dangerous.
“With the way the structure was, we didn’t want to put anyone at risk by putting them in the building,” Fernie Fire Chief Brendan Morgan said.
Because the building was formerly a mechanic’s bay, there was a high supply of fuel for the fire.
“[The fire] was pretty intense with the amount of fuel load that was in the building,” Morgan said.
Fernie firefighters received assistance from Fernie’s public works department, the Hosmer Fire Department and BC Ambulance.
“I’d like to send a big thank you to all three for their help,” said Morgan.
After investigation, the fire has been deemed accidental, while the cause remains undetermined.
Colclough Ave. was closed as soon as crews arrived and remained that way until approximately 7:00 PM.
The building has been turned back over to the owner who will now be tasked with handling the demolition process.
