Fire destroys Sturgeon Tire building
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/01/2012 (5014 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Bright orange flames and thick smoke shot up into the sky at the corner of First Street and Pacific Avenue last night.
A blaze broke out in the Sturgeon Tire building around 5:15 p.m. and kept firefighters busy for hours.
Police were rerouting motorists away from the blaze as fire crews attempted to douse the fire well into the evening. Pacific Avenue, between First and Third streets, was blocked, as well as First Street from Kirkcaldy Drive to Rosser Avenue.
Tammy Ball is the office manager at Pyramid Steel Construction, which is attached to the front of the Sturgeon Tire building.
Ball and two others were in the building at the time.
“We didn’t even realize it was after 5 p.m. We were busy doing stuff and a trucker stopped on First Street and said, ‘You know your building’s on fire?’”
Ball said she and her co-workers grabbed a few items and rushed out of the building.
“I started grabbing chequebooks, deposit books, throwing stuff in the drawers, and hopefully the drawers will still be there tomorrow in some sort of manner,” Ball said.
Soon after getting out the building, the neighbouring garage was completely engulfed in flames.
A hydro pole near the building also caught on fire. Nearby businesses were evacuated as a precaution.
“I haven’t been this close to a fire of this size before,” said J.D. Braid, who was on his way home from work.
“I wanted to get across the First Street bridge and I couldn’t, so I turned down here and saw the fire,” he said. “I think it’s picking up momentum.”
The building was destroyed and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
For roughly 20 minutes, 500 Manitoba Hydro customers were without power between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
“We had to shut that power off to protect our equipment, and for the safety of the folks fighting the fire,” Manitoba Hydro spokesman Anthonie Koop said.
“That 20-minute outage was to allow us to switch to alternate feeders.”
A dozen customers were still without power after 9 p.m.
“They’re closer to the site and there’s no alternative feed available,” Koop said.
“It’s really dependent on the fire so we can’t do anything until that fire is put out and then we are told by the fire department that it is safe for our guys to enter the site.”
» jaustin@brandonsun.com
The Brandon Sun was on scene at a massive blaze at the corner of First Street and Pacific Avenue. Here are some photos from the fire.