Timmins lumber mill goes up in flames

Timmins fire crews are cleaning up the remnants of what officials called a large structural fire that happened Wednesday evening.

Acting Deputy Fire Chief Scott Atkinson told CTV News that fire crews received calls at around 8 p.m. that a large fire could be seen at multiple locations in the Mountjoy neighbourhood and they discovered a building fully engulfed in flames.

"Multiple fire crews from multiple stations," including about 35 staff and volunteer firefighters were called to the blaze at a lumber mill on Feldman Road, south of Riverside Drive, and worked together to contain it.

"From what I understand, it’s a complete loss of the mill," Atkinson said.

"The investigators are still doing their thing, right now, to see if they can determine the cause."

No one was working at the mill at the time, he said, and the facility was locked up. Firefighters had to breach the gate to tackle the blaze, he added.

With no injuries reported, crews are checking for any remaining hot spots that could reignite a fire Thursday.

"With the building caving in and a lot of the tin and metal, it’s getting very hard for crews to get to the hotspots," Atkinson said.

"They’re pulling the tin off of it now and making sure that it’s completely out."

The remains of a building at a Timmins lumber mill after a fire broke out Wednesday night. Oct. 27/22 (Sergio Arangio/CTV Northern Ontario)

No word on the extent of the damage.