Power has been restored after a massive fire at a lumber yard in Pembroke left most of the city in the cold and dark overnight.
The fire burned into the night at the former International Lumber building on Boundary Rd. It apparently started between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Star 96.7's Tony Grace was told that there's a hydro supply line near the fire and that's to blame for the power being out to most of the city.
BREAKING: fire continues to burn at International Lumber on Boundary Rd. in Pembroke. I’m told there’s a hydro feeder line along here and that’s likely why power is out across Pembroke. pic.twitter.com/XefmhZ4Mpp
— Tony Grace (@tonygracectv) January 3, 2019
Pembroke Fire Chief Daniel Herback says a portion of the building collapsed onto a transformer, which is what caused the large-scale power outage.
Ottawa River Power Corp. says power wasn't expected to be back on until approximately 10:00 a.m. Thursday. Many residents lost power when the fire started.
Outage Update (Pembroke): Crews are about to begin repairs on the line outside of the active fire zone. Additional repairs are required in the area that is currently still considered unsafe. ETR is approximately 8-10hrs. @Star96FM @1049myFM @PembrokeInfo
— Ottawa River Power (@ORPowerCorp) January 3, 2019
However, the power company gave an update at around 6:30 a.m. saying that overnight crews were able to switch everyone back on a few hours ahead of schedule.
The cause of the fire remains unknown. Firefighters remained on scene into the morning Thursday to take care of hot spots.
No one was hurt.