Firefighters douse commercial fire on Salt Spring Island

The fire is shown. (Salt Spring Island Fire Rescue/Facebook)

More than a dozen firefighters battled a fire at a commercial building in the heart of Salt Spring Island, B.C., in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Salt Spring Island Fire Rescue was called to the Salt Spring Linen and Dry Cleaners building, located at 116 Hereford Ave. in Ganges, around 1:12 a.m.

When firefighters arrived, they found flames and heavy smoke coming from the building's loading bay and second floor.

Fire crews worked on dousing the flames from outside the building before on-call firefighters arrived to help push firefighting efforts indoors.

"The crews did an amazing job," said Salt Spring Fire Chief Jamie Holmes in a social media post Tuesday.

"The on-duty firefighters got here quickly, started an action plan, and bought time for the [paid-on-call] firefighters to arrive and complete the job," he said. "It was a great team effort."

The fire department says the blaze is still under investigation, though early assessments have not turned up anything suspicious.

Police, paramedics and BC Hydro staff were also at the scene providing assistance, according to the fire department.

"SSIFR is asking people to please stay clear of the scene and give the business owners some time and space before inquiring about any personal items that may be on location," said the fire department.

A total of 13 firefighters and six apparatuses were used to extinguish the blaze.