Huge Thunder Bay fire destroys Great West Timber building

A blaze that kept Thunder Bayfirefighters busy through the night is now almost out.

Just after 10 p.m. Wednesday, Thunder Bay firefighters were called to the city's waterfront for a fire in the sawmill at the old Great West Timber site.

Thunder Bay Fire Rescue arrived to find a lot of smoke and flame and a full second alarm was sounded to callin more trucks.

District Chief Kelly Patterson said there were water supply issues so crews had to pump water directly from Lake Superior to fight the fire.

"It is a sawmill, so I can imagine it was made completelyout ofsawn lumber," Patterson said.

"The fuel load there was very heavy and I don't think it was protected by drywall, as your home would be. So the fire raced through it pretty rapidly."

Fire crews battled the fire throughout thenightbut,byearlyThursday morning, the fire was knocked down and some trucks left the scene.

Investigators willstarttheirwork to determine the cause of the fire when the fire is completely out and the site is considered stable. They will alsodetermine whether to call in the Ontario Fire Marshal.

No injuries were reported.