A large fire broke out at a mechanic shop in a small town east of Edmonton, sending black plumes of smoke into the sky and forcing area businesses to evacuate.
The fire happened at Full Throttle Truck & Trailer Repair in Vegreville, located about 100 kilometers east of Edmonton.
The Town of Vegreville asked people to avoid the area of 50 Avenue between 48 Street and 50 Street because of the emergency response by the Vegreville Fire Department.
The fire began shortly before noon, the town said. Deputy Chief Mark Lucas said he was attending a ceremony for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral at the legion when he got the call and rushed over to the fire hall.
“All I could see was thick, black smoke so we knew something was very wrong,” he said.
The first fire truck arrived on scene about 12 minutes after the call came in to find the building engulfed in flames.
For several hours, black and grey smoke billowed from the building as firefighters worked to put out the blaze.
“People were hearing lots of explosions. They could’ve been anything from a truck tire to acetylene bottles. There’s no big propane tanks, nothing like that in there, thank God,” Lucas said.
It was determined the building was unsafe to enter so a track hoe was brought in to tear down walls, allowing crews from the outside to put out hot spots.
The building is historic in the town, according to Vegreville Mayor Tim MacPhee.
He told Global News it used to be the home of Raydon Motors, a car dealership started by two brothers: Ray and Don Mazankowski.
Don later became a politician who served as a cabinet minister under prime ministers Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney, the latter of which he was also deputy prime minister under.
The Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute in Edmonton is named after him.
Several businesses in the area said they were closed due to their proximity to the fire, including the Vegreville Family Clinic doctors office and Vegreville Drug Mart pharmacy.
Lucas said there were 17 firefighters on scene at the height of the fire. The cause is not yet known.
No injuries were initially reported, however later in the day fire crews reported one employee of the mechanic shop did suffer a minor burn injury.