By Jeff Helsdon
A press release from Bayham Fire Chief Harry Baranik stated the fire department was dispatched to an alarm at 4:30 a.m. on July 29. While en route, the call was updated to a fire in a trailer parked outside a loading door for the main building. A mutual aid call was then made to Tillsonburg Fire Department.
The fire spread to another trailer and a cover-all on the premises. More mutual aid was then requested from other departments. Tillsonburg’s ladder truck was used to attack the fire in the main building and Bayham firefighters worked on the trailer. Aylmer Fire Department’s new foam trailer was used to apply foam and quickly knocked the fire down.
“At about 6:53 a.m., the fire was deemed under control, although several hot spots were still occurring,” Baranik said in a news release. “Both a Legend Rubber excavator and another excavator was utilized to spread out the rubber in order to expose the hot spots.”
Except for a tanker and firefighters from Straffordville, all fire personnel had returned to their stations by 12:45. Bayham firefighters returned to the station two hours later but were called back around 7 p.m. when a hot spot was reported in the centre of the coverall. An excavator owned by Legend Rubber assisted to spread out the material, knocking down the hot spot.
“It should be noted, that because of the nature of this fire and the huge plume of black smoke, the Ministry of Environment was contacted and attended,” Baranik said. “Upon their inspection, they were satisfied that the runoff from the fire was contained in a clay-lined storm pond. The Ministry of Environment gave instructions for the safe removal of the run-off water.”
His damage estimate of $1 million included destruction of two trailers, the coverall and contents and exterior building damage. There was no damage to the interior of the buildings or contents. The Ontario Fire Marshall’s Office was called in to investigate the cause of the fire, but turned the investigation back over to Bayham. A cause still hasn’t been determined.
Beside Bayham, Tillsonburg and Aylmer, Norfolk County (Courtland), Township of Malahide, and Central Elgin fire departments assisted.
Brendan Church, Legend’s chief marketing officer, said it was incredible the company was back in production by Wednesday and full production by Thursday. The company manufactures rubber mats for the dairy industry and automotive components.
“The fire was limited to one storage building,” he said. “The damage was minimal to the main production facility.”
Church gave credit to the company’s fire suppression systems, along with the work from firefighters for limiting the damage.
“Their response was incredible,” he said.
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