60 firefighters tackle fire at business west of Fredericton

Sixty firefighters from three different departments responded to a fire at an automotive services business in Keswick Ridge, west of Fredericton, Sunday morning.

Keswick Ridge fire Chief Greg LeBlanc said it appears the fire at GAP Auto Products started in the office area.

LeBlanc said the department was called Sunday at around 7:45 a.m.

"The crew proceeded to make an interior attack and knock the fire down quite [a bit]," said LeBlanc.

"[It took] a lot of effort to do that and a lot of members from our departments came out to give us a hand."

LeBlanc said crews from Keswick Ridge were on scene for most of the day, but crews from other departments were sent home after the fire had been extinguished.

Fire Chief Murray Crouse of the Upper Kingsclear Fire Department said crews from his department were on scene for about four hours.

LeBlanc said calling for all three departments is routine in a structure fire, but was happy the other crews arrived to help with transporting water to the fire.

"The weather would delay water shuttles so it's best to have extra water on hand," said LeBlanc.

Difficult fire

The fire was difficult to get under control because of the structure's metal walls, some of which had to be removed in order to reach the fire burning behind them.

Crouse said the building is salvageable except for the office.

"They had a lot of product in the other end," said Crouse. "But [the fire] was stopped before it got back to there."

Crouse said it's a good thing the fire was stopped as the other end of the building had paint and other flammable liquids.

"It could have been a big mess," said Crouse.