A Barrie businesswoman who witnessed a massive fire at a propane business in the city's south end, Friday afternoon, says she quickly gathered up her staff and evacuated the area.
Brandi Betz, owner of DiscountLuxury.com on Bayview Drive, said she was helping a customer when she looked out the window and saw flames across the street.
"I didn’t know what was going on and I heard all of the explosions," Betz told BarrieToday. "There were probably 15 to 20, at least.
"I just grabbed my staff, evacuated them and came back and locked the doors afterwards," she added.
Emergency crews responded to Superior Propane at the corner of Bayview Drive and Lockhart Road around 2 p.m.
Emergency officials cleared a one-kilometre area around Superior Propane while firefighters battled the massive blaze, which sent large flames and a plume of black smoke into the air. The evacuation was ordered according to the city's response plan for the industrial fire.
"It looked like the fire was across the street from here and the flames were pretty high,” Betz said. “It was blowing outwards… and I didn’t know what it was. It was huge.”
Betz said her store is in the “safe zone,” so they were not evacuated by police.
She stayed on site to allow anyone evacuated to use the bathroom if needed.
“Plus, I am not really ready to drive,” Betz added, admitting the incident left her pretty shaken up. “Seeing the flames across the street and not really knowing what it was and the big bangs... I know there’s a propane company down there, so it kind of alerted me when I heard the bangs that it was probably propane.”
Deputy Fire Chief Carrie Clark said there were no injuries.
The fire remains under investigation.
