Earls Meat Market on Main Street in Steinbach was the scene of 3 firetrucks, EMS, and the RCMP early Wednesday evening.

Mayor Earl Funk, owner of Earls Meat Market had stopped by his store to check on the smokehouse and noticed that it was hot and that the pipes were getting warm. 

That is not something that should happen and Funk jumped into action. "We knew what we needed to do.  We called 911 and then...everyone was here!"

The fire department quickly discovered that the attic of the heritage building was full of smoke, but no fire was detected.

According to what Funk learned from the Steinbach Fire Department, the smokehouse chimney got hot, causing rafters around the chimney and the insulation to smolder and smoke. He says, "the quick thinking of our fire department and acting on it, we were really saved from having a fire."

A worst-case scenario was averted with the fire department cutting a hole in the roof and soaking the insulation.  Funk was relieved and optimistic, "they had to cut holes in the roof, but roofs can be fixed."

Funk was overcome with gratefulness several times for our local emergency services "I'm so thankful to our fire department for acting so quickly. It seemed like seconds after I made the call, they were here...so quick."

"We just have awesome, awesome emergency response people here in our community. It's just this amazing machine that looked like artwork.