Fire crews are looking at several possibilities as they try to figure out a cause.

The fire isn’t considered suspicious at this point.

Woolwich fire crews responded shortly before two a.m. Monday.

40 firefighters from four stations arrived within minutes but it was already too late.

“Most of the work was to protect exposure to the other buildings because the building was lost at that point.” Woolwich Fire Chief Rick Pedersen says.

As flames shot into the night’s sky, a few dozen people stopped to watch the fire consume the building.

Within a half hour, Eilish Cashubec says the building’s roof caught fire then the structure collapsed.

“I watched the whole thing burn down.  It was terrible.” Cashubec says.

Built from wooden beams, the market’s first and second floors were open concept allowing the fire to travel quickly and freely.

Add sixty vendors selling quilts, clothing and food and you have what officials call a high fire load.

“We have not gone into the building to look at the interior it’s still pretty hot in there.  We want to make sure it’s safe beforehand.” Pedersen says.

Waterloo Regional Police Detectives were on scene to rule out criminal activity.

The Ontario Fire Marshal’s office has been called in to investigate.

The building was equipped with several surveillance cameras investigators say they’ll be looking at those tapes trying to determine a cause.

Neighbours saw lightning strikes in the area around 11 p.m. Sunday.

But by 3 a.m. Monday the sky was clear.

“I remember standing outside and looking up and saying this is nice weather to be walking around.  It was very thick fog.” Corey Widemeyer tells CTV News.

Damage will likely touch the $2 million mark adding together the building and the vendor’s contents.

“It’s going to add up pretty quickly” Pedersen says.

Fire investigators say the market’s only salvation would have come from a sprinkler system which the building did not have.

“If it was built to today’s code but back then it wasn’t required to be sprinklered,” Pedersen says. “Fortunately we had a fire alarm system installed earlier this year in there.”

The building is fully insured and adjusters were on site by mid-morning Monday.  Individual vendors should also be insured.

The liability may be important as the investigation unfolds, once and if the cause is determined.