Saskatoon firefighters battle flour mill fire

Flour mill fire WATCH: Firefighters were on scene at a flour mill fire in Saskatoon.

The Saskatoon Fire Department (SFD) battled a serious fire at the P&H flour mill on 33rd Street East.

At a news conference Friday afternoon, Deputy Fire Chief Rob Hogan said the fire was caused by a piece of machine catching fire on the fourth floor and hot exhaust helped the blaze spread to the sixth floor.

“They followed it up past the fifth floor to the sixth floor and found that there was a substantial fire on the sixth floor,” Deputy Fire Chief Rob Hogan said.

The fire was first reported around 9:30 a.m. Friday morning. Hogan said all employees were safely evacuated to another building on site.

The extreme cold the city is experiencing created challenges for firefighters, according to Hogan.

"The conditions put a lot of restrictions on us. As soon as we put the water on it causes a lot of issues with things freezing up. Especially in this temperature," Hogan said.

Police assisted in the incident by providing drone surveillance of the building, he said.

Thirteen fire vehicles were dispatched to the blaze.

-With files from Noah Rishaug