Printers, newspaper staff flee Saskatoon fire
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 | 12:49 PM CT
CBC News
Fire struck Tuesday morning at the Saskatoon building that's home to Canada's largest agricultural newspaper, the Western Producer.
Staff with the weekly farm tabloid and at PrintWest Communications, where the fire started, were evacuated from the building.
"A few of us grabbed a few things … and went outside for the few minutes it usually takes to get the drill over with, except this time there was a fire," said reporter Michael Raine, who was left standing outside with a camera but no jacket.
No one was hurt.
PrintWest general manager Jos Molendijk said the fire was detected just before 10 a.m. in the ceiling just above a piece of printing equipment.
Pressmen tried to extinguish it with fire extinguishers, but were unsuccessful, he said.
Firefighters responded within five to 10 minutes and brought the fire under control within half an hour, he said.
Some production of specialty products will be affected, but the press that prints the Western Producer is in a different part of the building, he said.
"The Western Producer will come out as usual," he said.
Molendijk sent his workers home. Western Producer employees were expected to be back at work later in the day.
