The large storage shed that caught fire is likely a complete loss, but nothing else was damaged in the blaze. (Facebook/Carrot River Co-op)
Co-op Shed Fire

Carrot River Co-op storage shed catches fire, likely complete loss

Sep 13, 2019 | 5:01 PM

One of Carrot River Co-ops major storage units caught fire on Thursday, Sept. 12.

According to RCMP, the fire started in an electrical box and it is not suspicious in nature.

Co-op General Manager Ward Kewley said some local residents spotted the fire in the about 80-foot by 40- foot unit just after 8 p.m. and called the department. Kewley said the storage shed is likely a complete loss, but they do have an adjustor coming on Monday.

“More importantly, nobody hurt,” Kewley told northeastNOW. “The fire department was really, really prompt and did a heck of a job preventing it from going anywhere else.”

Kewley said they were able to get a forklift out that was in the unit, and it doesn’t seem to have tons of damage. They also had some fuel trucks nearby, but those were able to be moved away from the blaze. However, Kewley said the contents in the unit were worth thousands of dollars.

“That’s the challenge, the contents,” he said. “I mean oil and feed stuff and things like that, so we lost lots there too. You can imagine what happens to a bag of prepared feed when you put fire hoses to it.”

While not everything caught on fire in the unit, Kewley said it was so hot in there that lots of stuff was charred and damaged just due to the smoke and heat. He added the building itself is quite expensive.

Kewley gave lots of credit to the local fire department for all their help.

He added there will be some disruptions to service due to the losses, but they will remain open.

“Operating hours will stay the same and stuff like that,” Kewley said. “We’re very quickly going to try and get some remedial storage in place and see what we can do from there.”

mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6

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