Fire investigation continues

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This article was published 25/01/2012 (5013 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Demolition of the remains of the Sturgeon Tire building has begun as investigators sift the rubble for clues to the cause of a blaze said to be one of the city’s biggest in recent years.

Firefighters say the fire was a big one in terms of size, manpower and time needed to bring it under control.

“It’s one of the biggest ones in the last few years for sure,” Brandon Fire and Emergency Services Capt. Don Matthews said.

The business at the corner of First Street and Pacific Avenue was destroyed by a blaze that began around 5:15 p.m. on Monday.

On Tuesday, Matthews described how firefighters put their own safety at risk to try to save the structure.

Crews from both city fire halls responded with a pair of pumper trucks and, thanks to an overlap of work shifts, up to 20 firefighters were on scene for at least a couple of the four hours it took to control the flames.

Inflated tires on rims, containers of oil and hydraulic fluid and compressed gas tanks (possibly propane tanks) burned inside the building and caused a number of explosions, including three larger blasts.

Burning tires are tough to put out, Matthews said. Tires against the building and a nearby trailer that contained tires had to be removed.

Firefighters did enter to battle the flames from the inside, Matthews said, but after 25 minutes they had to withdraw as the fire had crept into the ceiling and threatened to surround them.

The risk posed by any explosion was also too high and there was a concern that a mezzanine that held tires and rims could collapse and trap firefighters.

The fight then continued outside with an effort to defend neighbouring businesses by spraying a curtain of water to absorb heat and repel flames.

It worked, as Matthews said it appears no damage was done to nearby buildings.

Glen Mattice, owner of Glen’s Creative Upholstery, praised firefighters for preventing damage to his business, which stands 15 to 20 feet from the Sturgeon Tire site.

During the fire, he’d watched as a “big ball” of flame rose 50 feet into the air from the burning building.

At his own building, he’d touched the inside of the roof closest to the fire and could feel it getting warm.

“I thought the place was going to go up,” said Mattice, whose building holds antique furniture and a 1957 Chevy Nomad that he has been restoring for the last eight years. “It was pretty scary.”

Not so lucky was Pyramid Steel Construction. Its office was attached to Sturgeon Tire and was also destroyed.

Three employees were in the office when the fire began, but they escaped unharmed.

The company, which employs 13 people, is only six to eight months old and had only opened its office in August. It’s now in search of new office space but won’t have to shut down its operation.

“It is what it is,” Pyramid Steel Construction co-owner Ken Waldner said Tuesday as he looked at the ruined building. “We’ll come back stronger than we were, I guess.”

The Sturgeon Tire outlet’s Winnipeg owner wasn’t available for comment.

The street lanes beside the property — the southbound lane of First Street and eastbound lane of Pacific Avenue — remained closed on Tuesday.

Firefighters hosed down hot spots to prepare for demolition in the afternoon of the few walls still left standing.

Investigators could then get a closer look.

“As we tear the building down we’ll be looking at certain things and it will take a few hours to sift through,” said Brandon Police Service arson task force investigator Sgt. Mike Melanson.

With no cause determined as of Tuesday, the task force investigated as a matter of procedure as there was nothing to suggest arson, Melanson said.

The fire seems to have started in the southwest part of the building. Its west end contains a number of service bays, although no cars were in the building at the time.

It appears Sturgeon Tire employees had already left for the day when the fire started and there were no injuries.

There’s no cost estimate yet for the damage done.

Hundreds of residents lost power in the area when Manitoba Hydro had to shut it off for safety reasons but, as of 3 p.m. on Tuesday, power had been restored to all but two customers.

The Sturgeon Tire fire has been likened to one in 2003 that razed Wally’s United Taxi and Len’s A M Motors on 10th Street near Victoria Avenue.

» ihitchen@brandonsun.com