A fire in Thorold that sent a large cloud of black smoke into the air appears to be accidental.
Thorold Fire Chief Terry Dixon says the call came in just after 3 p.m. yesterday afternoon, "There was heavy smoke coming from the building and when we arrived the back southwest corner of the building was on fire."
The Chief adds that crews thankfully knew what they were dealing with inside the auto parts building on Beaverdams Road.
He says the heavy black smoke made him call the Niagara Regional Police to issue a shelter in place, "It was going towards the Artisan Ridge subdivision at the time so I asked them to put a shelter in place for that area, just for the time being, because the smoke was pretty heavy at the beginning."
The shelter in place was lifted at about 11 p.m. last night.
There was one minor injury to one of the workers.
He was looked at by Niagara EMS on the scene and released.
When it comes to the cause of the fire Dixon says at this point they are still searching for answers, "We know kind of the area as to where it started, we are not 100% sure yet as to why, but it is believed to be accidental."
Click HERE to listen to a full conversation with Fire Chief Terry Dixon.