Investigators have taken over at Schnitzer Steel, In front of 2720, Turner Street after a barge fire sent smoke and flames billowing into the skies over Victoria Friday.
Flames first erupted from the barge, owned by Seaspan carrying scrap cars, just after 2 p.m. Friday.
17 firefighters battled the blaze for almost four hours.
The fire was difficult to extinguish due to the location of the fire which was buried deep within the pile of scrap metal. An excavator was used to remove debris and expose the fire. Crews were able to then extinguish the blaze.
According to Vic Fire Chief Paul Bruce, the fire boat was brought in, two engines, a rescue truck and a ladder truck were also deployed.
The cause of the fire is not yet known. "I can only assume a spark of some sort but we'll leave that to the investigators to determine."
Bruce says he saw debris in the water, " I've seen a couple of car doors and anytime anything enters the water it's a concern of mine on a personal level and a concern of everyone else' on an environmental level."
Mayor Lisa Helps hopes the environmental impact is minimal.
"Burning metal and rubber is not goo for the environment but if all goes well and we contain the fire, its a lot better than cars falling in the water."
Coast Guard responded to deploy a second containment boom to reduce the impact to the environment. Ministry of Environment is aware of the incident.
Schnitzer Steel is the same company that had a barge list in the waterway in August 2015, spilling about 20 cars into the water.
The company was held responsible for all associated clean-up costs.