Fire marshall investigates Princess St. fire

The Fire Marshal’s office doesn’t expect to pinpoint the cause of a massive industrial fire in Hamilton for at least another couple of days.

Investigators were at the site of the blaze all day today.

The ruthless inferno ripped through all eight units at 135 Princess, leaving behind little more than rubble.

Building owner, Saber Altaher, lost everything in his auto body shop, but he, at least, is insured. Some of his tenants are not.

“All is gone. My tools is gone, the car inside the shop gone, the customers’ cars are gone,” says Mohammed Isaq who lost his business in the fire.

“I feel so bad for them. It’s hard, I don’t know what they’re going to do now,” says Altaher

Roughly 80 cars were destroyed, and damages will likely top $2 million.

The fire spread rapidly because of flammable materials housed inside the building. How it first started is under investigation.

“We’re still at the beginning stages and because it’s such a large scene it’s going to take us a few days to go through,” says Kevin Pahor, one of the investigators.

The owner of the building says one of his tenants spotted a fire in his shop and called 9-1-1.

Another tenant says he saw multiple small fires outside that unit earlier Friday evening.