An overnight fire has gutted CTV’s Ottawa newsroom and is estimated to have caused more than $2.5 million in damage.

The blaze started sometime before 4:30am Sunday on the second floor of the Merivale Road building in the suburb of Nepean.

It took more than two hours for 70 firefighters and 18 fire trucks to bring the flames under control. And although tapes in some areas of the building may have been salvaged, archival footage and the 37-year video history of anchor Max Keeping were destroyed.

A security guard appeared to be the only one in the building at the time and was not injured in the incident.

"Just like when someone loses their home – we rebuild. We thank you all for your well wishes,” Keeping said on the CTV Ottawa Twitter feed.

The company said it will likely be days before staff can return, but CTV will continue production from the A Channel building in the Byward Market in downtown Ottawa.

The station – formerly CJOH – will also broadcast local news during the Super Bowl and its regular newscast on Sunday night at 11:30pm. Cameras and edit suites were being sent in from bureaus in Toronto, Montreal, and Saskatchewan.

Merrivale Road was closed until around noon on Sunday for the investigation. The cause of the fire is not yet known.