Fire Departments Respond to Structure Fire in Peace River

Posted January 29, 2021

Peace River and Weberville Fire Departments responded to a structure fire at the Mighty Peace Chevrolet Buick GMC Dealership located on the West Hill (Hwy 2) in Peace River at 5:30 pm on January 28. On arrival, crews found heavy smoke coming from the body shop at the rear of the building. Crews were informed that all occupants had safely exited the building.

“The first in crew made a rapid entry into the structure through the west-side man door and did an excellent job of quickly knocking back the fire,” said Fire Chief Tim Harris. Additional crews then continued with extinguishing the fire and opened up the large bay doors to ventilate the smoke. A masonry firewall between the body shop and the rest of the dealership prevented fire and smoke from entering the main area. “There was extensive damage to the body shop interior and contents but with the firewall in place, and the fire doors closed, the rest of the building suffered no noticeable damage,” said Chief Harris.

Crews were on scene for over five hours in very difficult conditions with a temperature approaching minus 30o Celsius and windchills near minus 40o C. “These conditions are very hard on firefighters and their equipment, with hoses, nozzles, and breathing apparatus freezing up, as well as the toll that the cold places on the crews” said Chief Harris. One firefighter suffered an injury after a fall in the icy conditions.

A couple of firefighters stayed on scene overnight to ensure no hotspots flared up. An investigation into the cause of the fire will commence today.