Cause undetermined in major Grimsby fire

By Mike Williscraft
NewsNow

After six months of investigation, the cause of the $2 million July 6 fire in downtown Grimsby has been announced as “undetermined”.

“The cause is undetermined, but I have listed the most probable cause as carelessly discarded smoking material,” said Kevin Pahor of the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office. Pahor was on the scene to launch the investigation the day of the fire and made the announcement last week.

“From all the material that was gathered that (carelessly discarded smoking material) is the most probable cause,” Pahor added.

The community has been rife with speculation and rumours as to the cause, many saying they believed a barbecue, which was visible all day at the back of the building when the fire broke was the culprit, but Pahor said that was not the case.

“The barbecue was not involved,” said Pahor, who noted results of the investigation took longer than normal as results of police investigation video from inside the buildings took a great deal of time due to damage to hard drives caused by the fire. “It has been longer than usual. It normally takes a couple of months,” said Pahor.

The fire, which was initially called in at 1:20 p.m. on July 6 burned out of control well into the evening. Massive smoke plumes could be seen for miles.

The Dressing Room, Pics Plus, Yoga Plus, CTS Computers and an apartment were destroyed.