Cause of Halifax Grain Elevator fire not yet known

We quickly realized that we had a fire that was significant. Visible flames and heavy smoke could be seen Monday night coming from the export arm of the Halifax Grain Elevator. Fire Chief Steve Bussey attended the call. He says the first crews arrived there within five minutes. The fire was initially only visible on the top floor, but quickly spread to two more stories below. We escalated to a second alarm, which brought an additional two engines and an aerial. And within five minutes after that, We went to a third alarm, which brought an additional two engines and an aerial. In total, there was 20 apparatus on scene, and we had 56 members present on scene. Efforts to contain the fire were complex. Crews used drones with infrared cameras to see where the fire was burning inside the large metal structure more than 130 feet in the air. The ladders on the aerial trucks only go up 100 feet. A ship was docked directly next to the site and needed to be moved. But Bussey says favourable weather conditions meant no evacuations were needed. The wind was actually blowing towards the east, so it was going out towards the harbour, which kept it away from the residential areas, so we had no concerns for evacuation whatsoever. The Halifax Port Authority owns the property and leases the facility to Halifax Grain Elevator Limited. We were just very grateful for the response by Halifax Fire and Emergency and that no one was injured. In a statement to CBC News, Halifax Grain Elevator says that the vessel loading system located on site remains temporarily paused while Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency investigates the cause of the fire. The remainder of their facility is operating normally. Alex Guy, CBC News, Halifax.