By MATT LINDSEY

CANTON – Around 70 firefighters from multiple fire departments battled a fire that shut down a portion of U.S. Highway 11 Tuesday evening, according to Canton Fire 2nd Assistant Fire Chief Russell Lawrence IV.

The blaze at Bourdeau Brothers, 5999 U.S. Highway 11, was reported by an employee at 4:30 p.m., Lawrence said. The company sells lawn and garden chemicals, pesticides and fertilizer.

Heavy smoke and fire hoses and rescue personnel in the roadway caused the highway to be shut down while the blaze was contained. Motorists were detoured between State Highway 310 and CR 35 near the old Grant’s gas station.

“Some of the hydrants we were using were across the road,” Lawrence said.

The blaze was in a rear portion of the building in a maintenance shop, which was adjacent to a storage area for herbicides, pesticides and similar chemicals, he said. The maintenance shop contained various tools and other equipment.

Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the back building, but doing so was challenging.

“We encountered heavy smoke on the initial attack,” Lawrence said. “The fire got into the wall cavity and into the attic space which was not accessible.”

Firefighters pulled metal off the roof and side of the building and got water in there that way,” he said. “We attacked from the exterior for safety reasons – there was a partial collapse in the center of the roof.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

No injuries were reported.

Firefighters from Canton, Potsdam, Pyrites, Rensselaer Falls, Morley and Pierrepont were on scene with Heuvelton firefighters on standby for Canton fire. St. Lawrence County sheriff’s deputies, state police and the St. Lawrence County Hazmat Team were on scene as well.

Firefighter were on scene for around six hours.