Emergency crews are at the scene of a huge fire at a warehouse on Wallace Street in Wallaceburg.
“Wallaceburg residents living on Old Glass Rd. and surrounding areas south of Garnet St. are urged to close their windows and stay inside due to large amounts of black smoke,” Chatham-Kent police officials stated.
News Update: Fire in Wallaceburg pt2
Black smoke in the area is potentially harmful.#ckps
— Chatham-Kent Police (@CKPSMedia) 13 June 2016
News Update: Fire in Wallaceburg pt1
Residents living on Old Glass Rd. S. of Garnet are urged to close their windows and stay inside#ckps
— Chatham-Kent Police (@CKPSMedia) 13 June 2016
Emergency crews arrived at 4:45 a.m. to the warehouse which was “fully engulfed by fire.
“Motorists are asked to avoid the area as Wallace Street between Pearl Street and Huron Street is closed,” stated Const. Renee Cowell, public information officer with the CKPS.
Emergency personnel remain on scene and more information will be released as it becomes available, Cowell said.
Multiple firefighters were battling the blaze, while EMS and Chatham-Kent Police are also at the scene.
Details are limited at the moment.
“It sounded like firecrackers going off,” said a witness at the scene.
“I was outside having a cigarette when I heard it, and then I saw all the flames, I thought those trucks were on fire.”
The building on fire is located at the end of Wallace Street, right beside the Sydenham River.
Here is a screen shot of the building from Google Maps:
Here are some photos snapped by Wallaceburg resident Ryan Langstaff:
Here are some photos of the fire aftermath, taken form a boat in the Sydenham River, and submitted to the Sydenham Current:
Here are a few photos from across the river, taken by Paul DeBusschere: