Fire under control after burning all day at Davie shipyard in Lvis, Que.

A large fire is finally under control after burning inside an empty industrial building at the Chantier Davie Canada Inc. shipyard in Lvis, Que., for most of the day Wednesday.

The Lvis fire department said all available firefighters were called in to help extinguish the fire. Six water bombers, three aerial rescue unitsand heavy hydraulic machinery werealso deployed.

Thick dark smoke was visible from downtown Quebec City.

"We're working hard and trying to control the spread of the fire,"said the city'sdeputy fire ChiefRichard Amnotte earlier in the day.

He confirmed thatno one was inside the building when the flames started,and that everyone nearby was safely removed from the area.

The two-storey wooden building, which is about the size of a soccer field and was supposed to be demolished, servedas a storage space forunused equipment and contains combustible material, Amnotte said.

Hesaid the fire consumed atleast half of thestructure and was on track to spread, sothe fire department raised thealarm level togeneral.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

"Our first priority is the safety of the people," said Marcel Poulin, a spokesperson for the Davie shipyard, earlier in the day.

He said the company hadstopped all activities for the daybecause the power was shut down to allow firefighters to stop the fire.

Poulin said a decision on whether the temporary suspension of activities will be extendedwill be communicated later in the day.