Though the cause of a blaze at a sawmill outside of Rossland on Friday is still undetermined, Trail’s fire chief suggests the large structure fire could be tied to crews welding a piece of equipment.
“With so much destruction, it’s really hard to pinpoint exactly where the fire may have started,” said Terry Martin, who was first on the scene at Jones Ties and Poles when the fire was reported at about 11:30 p.m. Friday.
The roof of the planer building was already caved in and walls on their way down when 22 area firefighters were called in to attack the fire.
After ensuring power was turned off at the site on Highway 22 near the Paterson border crossing, fire crews spent nearly four hours putting out spot fires ignited under the remains of the 75-by-100-foot structure.