A sprawling Point Douglas business has been destroyed by a devastating overnight blaze.
Flames leapt nearly one hundred feet into the pitch black night.
It was a paper mill consumed by fire with chemicals inside adding to the inferno.
The mill’s owner was jarred from his sleep. He rushed to the scene only to watch helplessly as his livelihood went up in flames.
“I knew it was not good and how bad it was of course I could see it,” said the mill owner Sheldon Blank.
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Crews were still hosing down hot spots in a ‘mountain’ of debris Thursday afternoon.
Damage is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and could surpass the million dollar mark.
Because of its close proximity to the fire, Grace Street was evacuated in the middle of the night because of concerns of toxic smoke and run off into the Red River, it’s something residents say happens far too often.
“The fire department is here at least once or twice a month because there are kids in there fooling around and there is so much shit back there I’m surprised it hasn’t burned to the ground yet,” said a resident Lee Holleron.
Police say that the arson unit and fire commissioners office are investigating but that it may be a while before a ’cause’ is determined.
“I believe this is arson. I think they’ll find the people who did it,” said Blank.
Blank admits his property has been struck by arsonists before and that previous arsons have made it impossible to ‘insure’.
Despite the loss, Blank can take some comfort in knowing no one was injured.
“Of course this is hurtful because of the financial loss, but there’s no chance that my family is going to get hurt so there’s some solace in that,” said Blank.
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