The investigation is still ongoing for a “suspicious” fire that destroyed a storage warehouse at Leitch Fuels Ltd. Heating and Cooling here on May 10.
The Erin fire department received a call for a commercial property fire on Main Street at around 9:15pm. Firefighters arrived at Leitch Fuels to find a “fully involved structure fire,” said Erin Fire Chief Dan Callaghan. They “took up defensive positions and worked on extinguishing the fire.”
Ten trucks from the Erin and Hillsburgh fire stations were on scene and the Rockwood station was called for standby at the Erin station, Callaghan said, adding the scene was cleared at 7:30am on May 11.
There were no injuries during the fire and an estimated cost for damages to the building, which police say was used for furnace parts storage, was not immediately available.
CTV News reported the damage estimate to be around $1 million, but Callaghan did not confirm that figure by press time.
The fire, which the OPP has deemed “suspicious,” also caused damage to adjacent businesses in downtown Erin. Callaghan said Budson Farm and Feed and Credit River Motor Company suffered radiant heat damage from the fire and Steen’s Dairy suffered damage to some milk carrier trucks.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by Wellington County OPP, the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office and Erin fire. Police say anyone with information can call 1-888-310-1122 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit a tip at csggw.tips.
Attempts to contact representatives from Leitch Fuels were unsuccessful by press time.
