‘Tough to battle’ fire on Kildare Road

A significant fire at a business in Walkerville required a multi-hour response by Windsor Fire and Rescue Services.

Chief Jamie Waffle confirmed crews received calls for a fire around 5 p.m. at 1555 Kildare Rd.

Thick black smoke could be seen billowing from the scene and casting a shadow over the neighbourhood.

“As they got here, a significant amount of pallets on fire, mostly wood, some plastics as well,” Waffle said.

The fire was upgraded, Waffle said, which resulted in more than 20 firefighters on scene.

“We do have a significant size fire, but never made the buildings, didn’t breach any of the buildings. We have a few damaged vehicles in and around the area of the fire, but other than that, we have no injuries,” Waffle said.

At 5:19 p.m., Windsor police closed Kildare between Shepherd Street East and Seneca Street due to the fire. Police re-opened the road around 7:40 p.m.

Waffle said they were still working to extinguish some of the hot spots, but the fire is now under control.

At times, crews would seemingly extinguish the worst of the blaze only for large flames to erupt minutes later.

“Plastics always present a bit of a challenge in putting out the fire, also causes a lot more significant smoke. You’ll see your smoke typically gets a little bit blacker, a little bit tougher to battle,” Waffle added.

The cause of the fire has not been determined.