Potato processing plant near Shelburne destroyed by fire
Posted March 7, 2017 6:13 am.
Last Updated March 7, 2017 12:59 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A potato processing plant near Shelburne was destroyed when a massive fire tore through the building early Tuesday morning.
The fire began at Tupling Farms Produce Inc. around 1:30 a.m. Shelburne is located about an hour-and-a-half northwest of Toronto.
The roof of the roughly 45,000-square foot plant collapsed and small fires continued to burn inside.
When fire crews arrived at the scene, “the flames were probably about another 100 feet in the air,” Mulmur-Melancthon Fire Chief Jim Clayton said at the scene.
“One section of [the] building had, from my understanding, about 500 to 1,000 wooden skids in it, which just fuelled that fire for most of the night.”
Fifty firefighters from five fire departments were needed to battle the fire, and six tanker trucks were used to haul water to the rural area.
No injuries have been reported.
It is not yet known how the fire began but the loss from damages is expected to be in the millions.
According to local media, this is the seventh fire in the area since Friday.
Fire officials said Tuesday’s fire is the largest one they’ve seen in the area.