Fire causes $2.5M in damage at Mitchell, Ont. turnip farm

A fire truck sits outside the Perth East Fire Department station in Milverton on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015. (Marc Venema / CTV Kitchener)

A building at a rutabaga processing plant just north of Mitchell, Ont. is considered a total loss after a fire on Monday.

The entire West Perth Fire Department responded to the call around 3:39 p.m. according to Fire Chief Bill Hunter. Crews from North Perth, Perth East, and Huron East also helped to tackle the blaze. Hunter said at the height of the fire, close to 70 firefighters and 20 trucks were on scene.

Although no one was hurt, the fire at the Stovel-Siemon Ltd. facility on Line 39 caused an estimated $2.5 million in damages.

“Firefighters made an aggressive interior attack but were forced back outside due to smoke and fire conditions. Portions of the building collapsed due to the fire damage. The building was a total loss. We had to bring in heavy equipment to remove steel to allow access for our firefighters to fully extinguish the blaze,” Hunter told CTV News.

The fire is not considered to be suspicious and although the Ontario Fire Marshal was called, they did not attend the scene. The investigation is ongoing.

While crews battled the challenging fire, an aerial truck from the St. Marys Fire Department was relocated to Sebringville to help take care of any other fires in the area.

Firefighters were able to leave the area by 1:57 a.m. Tuesday.