A very large structure fire was finally put out by the Timmins Fire Department thanks to a nearby church and creek.
When firefighters first arrived to D&L Towing’s mechanic shop on Laforest Road at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 14, there was heavy smoke and flames coming from the rear of the building.
They immediately attacked the flames in an effort to slow the fire’s spread, however, it had already entered the roof and rapidly spread throughout the building.
“Being an all-metal building, it essentially becomes an oven inside until it breaks through,” Deputy Fire Chief Scott Foster told The Daily Press on Wednesday.
Tankers from all four fire stations (Mountjoy, Schumacher, Whitney and Connaught) rushed to the scene to provide water on-site, shuttling from the fire hydrant at the Timmins Pentecostal Church on Airport Road, which offered firefighters the use of their parking lot.
Foster said the location of a large fire away from hydrants was a somewhat unusual circumstance for the department.
Later on that morning, firefighters had to break through the ice at Kraft Creek to set up a “drafting station,” the term for when water has to be sucked from a natural body of water, as opposed to a pressurized water source, such as a fire hydrant.
Firefighters drilled a hole in the ice and set up a portable pump on the creek’s shore.
The pump sent water to a pumper truck stationed on the bridge that runs over Kraft Creek on Laforest Road, which then transported the water back to the fire scene.
The fire was brought under control at approximately 2:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
It was the first such incident at the specialized hauling and towing company.
Fortunately all heavy machinery, such as large tow trucks, was outside, so the company is able to continue their operations with temporary office set ups, Foster said. He added two other companies also had offices in the building
The Ontario fire marshal did a thorough walk-through of the site on Monday, accompanied by Timmins fire prevention officers and the Timmins Police Service forensic investigation unit.
The fire marshal and the fire prevention officers are now completing their reports and have turned over the investigation to the insurance company.
“We have no reason to suspect foul play,” Foster said.