A massive fire has destroyed a sawmill just north of Listowel.
Fire crews were called out to J.H. Keeso and Sons Limited around 10:30 Sunday night and they say once on scene they discovered the building was fully engulfed in flames.
As many as 60 firefighters from 8 area stations used 20 apparatuses to fight the blaze, including 12 tankers, overnight and it was brought under control by Monday morning.
Damage is pegged at between $4 and $4.5 million and insurance investigators were at the scene Monday afternoon trying to determine what happened.
North Perth Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Jason Benn says the blaze was challenging to put out.
“Just the sheer size of the fuel load that was inside the building, your sawdust and your various hard lumbers and stuff like that and the building structure itself, there’s a lot of steel structure in there as well as lumber structure.”
The sawmill was built in 1984 and was owned by Richard Keeso, the father of actor Jared Keeso who stars in the television series Letterkenny.
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UPDATE: 12:52 P.M.
A late night blaze at a lumber business north of Listowel has caused around $4 million in damage.
Firefighters were called to J.H. Keeso Lumber, on Highway 23, around 10:30 p.m. Sunday after flames broke out.
Reports say as many as 110 firefighters were on scene battling the fire but the businesses main building was destroyed.
Firefighters remained on scene through the morning dousing hot spots.
Highway 23 was closed between Line 87 and Line 88 as crews cleaned up the scene but it has since reopened.
What sparked the blaze isn’t yet known.
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A late-night blaze at a lumber business north of Listowel has caused major damage.
Reports say firefighters were called to J.H. Keeso Lumber, on Highway 23, around 10:45 p.m. Sunday after flames broke out.
Firefighters from the North Perth Fire Department worked throughout the night to contain the blaze.
Reports on social media say the businesses main building was destroyed in the fire.
Highway 23 was closed between Line 87 and Line 88 was closed for several hours as crews cleaned up the scene but has since reopened.
What sparked the blaze and how much damage was caused isn’t yet known.
