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Crews are expected to remain on scene throughout the day Tuesday after a warehouse in St. James was destroyed by fire.

The two-storey commercial building was engulfed in flames on the west side of Roseberry Street between St. Matthews and Ellice Avenues Monday afternoon.

Fire officials said the flames broke out at 588 Roseberry Street, inside a small printing business in a middle unit of the building. The structure was shared by five addresses.

Crews were alerted to the fire by passersby, not by tenants of the building.

A mixture of steam and smoke could still be seen emanating from the burnt-out building Tuesday.

“They’re going to keep pouring water on it. Once we’re getting more steam than smoke, we’re going to have to make a decision,” explained Bruce Melnyk, platoon chief on duty. “We might have to start disassembling that building and just wetting it down as they’re pulling it apart.”

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No injuries were reported in the fire, which produced enough smoke to be seen from Steinbach, but the building is a write-off.

“Picture a house of cards, and when it all starts falling down,” Melnyk said. “We could be pouring water on the top, but by the time it trickles down to all the walls that have collapsed, it takes a while. And there’s going to be an ice buildup on there.”

The side of the building as well as adjacent power lines are completely coated in a thick layer of ice. Manitoba Hydro shut off supply to those lines to let crews work around them safely.

Officials said that nothing that was burning Monday was toxic, and that any coloured smoke was the product of old, dense wood burning at a very high temperature.

Roseberry Street from St. Matthews to Ellice Avenue as well as St. Matthews from Roseberry to Ferry Road are expected to be closed until midnight Tuesday.