Furniture store in Tillsonburg, Ont. destroyed by fire

TILLSONBURG -

A staple of the Tillsonburg community has been destroyed by a fire.

Emergency crews arrived at the Morrice Furniture Store Wednesday afternoon to find the structure engulfed in flames.

An update from police said EMS were called to the scene to assess one person, but everyone inside was able to get out safely.

"The owner and the occupants did get out," said Tillsonburg fire chief Shane Caskanette. "There's actually a house in here as well too. It's a residence. The occupants did get out of the building, so that's the good news, but the heavy smoke and fire prevented fire [crews] from going to the interior, so we immediately went to an exterior attack on the building."

Officials say the smoke and fire was so heavy inside they knew from the start there wouldn't be much of the building left to save.

"We've bought stuff there in years gone by and the owners are long time residents," said resident Alan Silvester. "The store is a fixture here in this part of town."

Simcoe Street was closed between Ball Street and Potters Road while emergency crews battled the fire.

"I'm almost 18 and I've lived here my whole life and it's always been there," said resident Abbygail Varga. "My family has always gone in there and looked around and we even bought a few things from them."

There is no word yet on what caused the fire.

As of late Wednesday night crews were still on scene putting out remaining hot spots. Roads are expected to be closed into the evening.

With reporting from CTV Kitchener's Spencer Turcotte