Firefighters battled near-zero visibility in large industrial blaze
Posted Feb 17, 2026 01:54:32 PM.
Last Updated Feb 17, 2026 01:54:39 PM.
Crews were called on Saturday afternoon to the city’s southeast end to find visible smoke and flames pouring out of an industrial complex.
Firefighters were told at 12:43 p.m. that a bystander reported black smoke coming from a one-storey commercial building in the 2700 block of Sheffield Road. Teams arrived on scene and saw the smoke coming from the rooftop exhaust vent, and pushing through the eavestrough. Visible flames were seen coming from a side door of the building.
A fast attack was initiated, and multiple hose lines were brought toward the structure. Crews forced entry through a door and were met with “near-zero visibility,” from the dense smoke.
As a team attempted to make their way inside, representatives from the building came and told firefighters no one should be inside. Another group searched the structure and found no one.
An aerial truck allowed trams to tackle the blaze from above and ventilate the structure. They opened the roof to allow the heat and smoke to escape.
Dousing the flames took a while, but crews were able to extinguish them by 2:13 p.m.
A fire investigator was dispatched to determine the cause of the incident.
