Firefighters from five area fire services were called upon to battle a blaze early Saturday morning west of Fort Frances.

The fire broke out at New Gold’s bus garage in Crozier just before 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

Members of the Alberton Volunteer Fire Department were first on scene and found the building fully engulfed.

This prompted calls for assistance from fire services in La Vallee, Emo, Couchiching, and Fort Frances.

“Upon arrival at the New Gold structure, the commercial garage was fully involved. Our initial response was to ensure that we protected the surrounding buildings, property and employee vehicles in the parking area while ensuring the safety of our responders,” states Alberton Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief James Wood in an email to the 93.1 The Border newsroom.

Woods says the town’s ladder truck, being operated remotely, allowed them to knock down the fire quickly while firefighters on the ground fought the fire from the perimeter from a safe distance.

The proximity of the property to Fort Frances allowed firefighters to access nearby town hydrants, allowing for a consistent and timely water supply.

As a result, a section of Highway 11 was closed for several hours.

Woods estimates 360,000 gallons of water was used to extinguish this fire.

The building was destroyed.

There were four buses, two coaches and two modified buses, used to transport workers to and from New Gold’s Rainy Lake mine inside, and were heavily damaged.

Woods says the cause of the fire is undetermined but is not considered suspicious at this time.