A garbage truck that was the source of a fire that damaged parts of the Porcupine Mall on Thursday will be examined by investigators from the Office of the Fire Marshal.
Fire officials say the truck was parked beside the mall when it caught fire early Thursday afternoon.
The blaze then spread to the mall and was doused by firefighters.
Deputy Chief Gerry Sabourin, of the Timmins Fire Department, said the truck was impounded on Thursday and is being kept secure until investigators from the Ontario Fire Marshal's Office can inspect it next week.
Sabourin said smoke damage to parts of the mall are extensive, but he said the fire could have caused much more damage had it not been prevented from spreading to the building’s roof.
He credited the quick action of firefighters with keeping the fire to the outside wall of the building.
“They saved the building,” he said.
Sabourin said it is too early to put a dollar figure on the damage, though he noted a significant amount of merchandise in the Giant Tiger outlet where the fire was located would have been affected by smoke.
He said the building is “very fixable,” but said he expects the final cost to be “a big number.”
He said he believes reports that the truck exploded stemmed from the vehicle’s tires popping.
People in the mall at the time of the fire were evacuated quickly, said Sabourin.
No one was injured in the fire.
(PHOTO: A fire-damaged garbage truck is taken from the scene of Thursday's fire at Porcupine Mall. Tim Trevenna for Timminstoday.com)
