A fire that saw firefighters in Elmira battling the elements as well as smoke and flame is not believed to be suspicious.
Shortly after noon, firefighters from Elmira and Floradale were called to the Elmira Pet Products site for a fire in a maintenance building on the propery.
“There was smoke showing, just a small amount,” Woolwich Township fire chief Kieran Kelly told CTV News.
“By the time they opened (the building) up … there was quite a bit.”
Firefighters had to cut holes in the building to better battle the fire, but were able to extinguish it before it moved past the room in which it began.
The rest of the property, including the company’s production facility, was not affected.
“We have no impact to our operations or our customers,” company co-owner Dave Johnston said.
Efforts to fight the fire were hampered by cold temperatures – approaching -20 C for much of the afternoon – and high winds.
Kelly said the fire would have been much more difficult to fight had it started consuming exterior walls before it could be extinguished.
“Had the building structurally started to go, it would have been a problem,” he said.
Nobody was inside the building when the fire began.
Fire investigators believe a faulty heater may have been to blame for the fire, although they continue to investigate.
