Salt Spring firefighters battled a devastating fire at the Windsor Plywood store in Ganges this morning.
The fire was reported at about 2 a.m. by TLC Security personnel.
“I got a call at 3:15 [from store co-owner Mike Stefancsik], was down here at about 3:40 and it was pretty ugly,” said Windsor co-owner Ken Marr.
Marr said firefighters were initially working hard to save the east end of the building.
Marr said he and Stefancsik got the forklifts away from the building and their yard foreman Jim Michaux hopped on and moved as much product as possible away from the fire.
He said Windsor’s number-one focus right now is to look after their professional customers.
“Yes, we have 55 families that rely on us for payment directly, but we have probably about 700 professionals that are relying on us to put bread on the table, so that’s our focus right now.”
Marr said they will get up and running as best they can at their Beddis Road site.
The Ganges area and harbour were filled with smoke as a result of the fire.
North Salt Spring Waterworks District customers have also been affected.
“Due to the catastrophic fire in Ganges village and the extreme fire flow required to combat the blaze, some valving was damaged,” states an emergency notice on the NSSWD website.
Affected roads were Cranberry, Don Ore, David, Devine, Old Divide and possibly other areas, said the NSSWD.
While water service has been restored, a boil water advisory for any user of the Maxwell Lake side of the NSSWD system was issued at 11 a.m. That includes Ganges village and all points south.
“Crews are actively working on it and more information will be available later. Affected areas on the Maxwell system will be out of water until the NSSWD crew can repair the damage.” Affected roads are Cranberry, Don Ore, David, Devine, Old Divide and possibly other areas.
Check this site for updates to the story.
