The cause of a Wednesday morning blaze that wreaked $50,000 damage to a 6100 block Otway Road sawmill and office building has been deemed suspicious, say Prince George Fire Rescue.
The mill and office were not in use at the time and there was no one at the site, assistant fire chief Drew Larsen said, when 18 firefighters from fours halls armed with six fire apparatus were called to the scene at 3:35 a.m.
They found the office building engulfed in flames with the roof already collapsed. A second smaller building nearby caught fire as a result of the first blaze.
Efforts were hampered by limited access due to the heavy snow still around the buildings.
"A city loader was called in to plow access to the site, water was supplied using fire tanker trucks due to no hydrants in the area," Larsen said.
"Initial fire attack caused the CN rail line to be shut down for a short period due to fire hose lines crossing the rail line, once access to the mill yard was established fire crews moved operations and fire suppression resumed."
