Fire has destroyed a storage shed at the Kincardine Tim-br Mart.
Store co-owner Harvey De Leeuw says a customer was picking up an order from the yard behind the store just after they opened at 11 AM Sunday and came back inside and told staff there was a fire.
Staff tried at first to combat the flames with fire extinguishers, but it was too much for them to handle, so they called 911.
Kincardine Fire Chief Jamie MacKinnon says staff did a really good job to move equipment out of the way, including forklift propane tanks that were stored nearby.
De Leeuw says no one was hurt, and the six people inside the store went and waited in the parking lot.
Plywood, bags of cement, and special orders like hardwood flooring and ceramic tile were stored in the shed.
All of the inventory, along with two forklifts, were destroyed.
Three delivery trucks were also parked by the shed, but employees drove them to safety.
There was also heat damage to two other sheds and the back wall of the store.
MacKinnon says based on what the owners have told him, damage is estimated at half a million to one million dollars, making it Kincardine’s largest dollar value damage fire in five years.
MacKinnon says the dollar value and lack of noticeable cause means the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office will be coming to investigate on Monday.
He says the cause is considered suspicious until a probable cause is found.
The Chief says getting water to the fire was a challenge at first — the nearest hydrant is two thousand feet away, but water from tanker trucks met the need until the hoses were hooked up.
Firefighters from Kincardine, Tiverton, and Ripley were at the scene.
South Bruce OPP closed Highway 21 between Sutton Street and the 5th Concession for three hours.