Something sparked a fire in the back of a paper shredding truck right next to the Steinbach Fire Hall just after two this afternoon.

Fire Chief Kel Toews says the driver parked his truck on Kroeker Avenue and contacted the fire department directly.

“We received a knock on the door of the fire hall and he said there was a fire in the back of his truck and we happened to have a few people here so we immobilized (the fire) and we’ve pretty well extinguished it now and we’re just making sure it hasn’t spread through the paper.”

Toews notes it’s hard to say what caused the fire, whether it be something in the paper that was being shredded or a bearing in the shredding equipment, adding they are unsure at this point. He says once they get all the charred paper out they will be able to see if there was any damage to the shredding equipment or to the truck itself but for now, he notes it seems the fire was just in the paper.

Both westbound lanes on Main Street remained open but Kroeker Avenue next to the fire hall was closed as crews cleared the scene.