Firefighters still battling smoke, hot spots at St. Catharines flower farm

A fire that began Friday and has ravageda St. Catharines, Ont., flower farmstill isn't completely out, says the fire department.

He saidit will take the better part of Sunday to getall the hot spots out, but rain in the area willhelp.

The smoke on Saturday affected local air qualityand officials from Ontario's Ministry of the Environment were on the scene, collecting air samples for analysis.

"Preliminary downwind air monitoring results are below emergency screening values,"Andrew Buttigieg said in an email Saturday. "Local watersheds have been sampled and monitored. Early results show dissolved oxygen and pH readings being good."

Buttigieg said the city is collecting douse water that is being trucked to Port Dalhousie sewage treatment plant as a precaution.

• Air quality a concern after fire engulfs St. Catharines flower farm

No one was injured in the fire at Pioneer Flower Farmsthat began late on Friday night, although flames spread toand destroyed about four or five residential buildings that housed migrant workers, according to Jeff McCormick, acting fire chief for St. Catharines Fire and Emergency Management Services.

The fire wasin a structure of about 650,000 to 700,000 square feet in total that is a series of greenhouses and outbuildings.

The fire also spread across the grass and caused a "significant" bush fire, the city of St. Catharines said in a release.

Firefighters were called to the farm shortly after 11 p.m. ET,and crews from fivedepartments were able to contain it after several hours.

Many people from the area, including neighbours,wentto the farm to help. At one point, they set up an irrigation pipeline tobring water to one part of the fire.

Residents in the area northwest of the fire were asked to close doors and windows and turn off air conditioning.People are still being asked to avoid the area.

According to its website,Pioneer Flower Farms is a family business that started in 1971.