It was five or six hours into the fire before we got the full go ahead.” “We had to wait for hydro to give us the OK. “Initially we saw that the hopper had knocked down a supply line and transformer which was a hindrance,” Herback said Thursday morning. The Pembroke Fire Department fought the fire throughout the night Wednesday, but wasn’t able to get as close as it would have liked to because of the downed power lines, which knocked out electricity to residents in the city of Pembroke and the surrounding area for about 10 hours. Members of the fire department remain on the scene this morning and heavy equipment has been brought in to move some of the lumber inside the burnt building to allow firefighters to douse hot spots instead of having it continue to smoulder, the chief noted. There were about a dozen employees working at the mill when the fire broke out but there were no injuries. When the department arrived, a large portion of the main mill building and hopper were completely engulfed in flames, according to a release issued by Fire Chief Dan Herback Wednesday night. “So we’re pretty excited for sure,” Godin said.The fire at the Lavern Heideman and Sons Lumber Yard broke out just after 8 p.m. Godin said that Home Hardware is investing millions of dollars into the expansion of Smitty’s Home Hardware. Godin explained that stock will simply be shifted around as required while the addition is being constructed. Smitty’s Home Hardware will remain open for business as usual while the work is taking place. Hopes are to have the building up before this winter with the work to be completed by the spring of 2020. The renovation and expansion, which began back in early August, will see the creation of the over 16,000 square foot indoor lumber yard plus an additional 4,500 square feet of retail space added to the existing store’s footprint of about 23,690 square feet. The indoor lumber yard will utilize a state-of-the-art racking system providing do-it-yourselfers and builders product that is protected from bad weather like rain and snow. “This will be so much better for our customers and it’s something that no one else has.” Computer render of how Smitty’s Home Hardware will appear once the renovation and expansion is complete. “This is a great opportunity for us to bring the lumber inside and keep it out of the weather,” said Tyler Godin, co-owner of Smitty’s Home Hardware.

Pembroke lumber yard