Crews battled a massive blaze at the Superior Propane facility on Bayview Drive in south Barrie, Ont., prompting evacuations within a one-kilometre radius of the building, the city’s deputy fire chief confirmed.
The blaze started at the building’s back loading dock, prompting several small propane cylinders to explode, local deputy fire chief Ed Davis confirmed.
“Because of the proximity to … some large cylinders on the property, we were focusing all our efforts on applying water to those tanks to cool them down just to inhibit any possible explosions,” he told Global News.
“As of now, we’ve made significant progress and we’re just keeping the water applications down to cool all areas. There’s some spot fires that we’re monitoring right now.”
Davis said there’s been no injuries reported in connection with the fire.
A tweet from Barrie Fire at about 3 p.m. said the fire is under control.
Emergency crews evacuated the propane facility and all neighbouring businesses within a kilometre radius.
City police are advising people to avoid the area of Bayview Drive, Lockhart and Saunders roads.
Davis said it’s unclear how long it will take to put the fire out.