A fire in a garage behind the Paradise Town Council on Sunday afternoon has destroyed a piece of heavy equipment and caused significant smoke damage.

Shortly before 4:30 p.m. firefighters were called to the Paradise Town Council building on McNamara Drive. When crews arrived on the scene thick black smoke was billowing from a garage, attached at the rear of the building.

Ken Dinn, Platoon Chief with the St. John’s Regional Fire Department stated that a dump truck was well alight when crews got there, and the building was full of black smoke. Dinn said while firefighters were able to contain the fire to one piece of equipment, the remainder of the building sustained significant smoke damage.

Firefighters worked to ensure no hot spots remained, and to clear smoke from the facility before personnel with the Town of Paradise could enter and survey the damage. With a blizzard warning in effect for much of the eastern part of Newfoundland there was concern about how snow clearing efforts may be affected. Given the fact much of the Town’s snow clearing fleet was stored elsewhere, there is not expected to be much of an impact on snow clearing.

The Town of Paradise town offices also sustained significant smoke damage. It is unknown exactly how business will be affected. There were no injuries in the fire.