HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-02-07, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2013. Continued from page 1decided it would be too much forme. It has been a great journey with
an unfortunate ending. I am deeply
saddened.”
The decision affects 112
employees according to Seip, though
for some it has taken effect sooner
rather than later.
“Currently we have a skeleton
crew of between five to 10 people,”
Seip explained. “We don’t know
how long those people will be here[in a temporary office in the BrusselsBusiness and Cultural Centre].”
Choosing to close the business
was a decision made last Wednesday
night according to Seip, and it was
made so that the employees could
begin looking towards the future and
not be held waiting.
“We just wanted to give them
clarity and closure,” Seip explained.
As for the property, Seip said that
there is no indication as to what willhappen to it.“We’re still working with the
Ministry of the Environment and the
Fire Marshal’s office and the fire
chiefs and we haven’t finalized
anything there yet,” Seip said.
“We’re still working on clean up,
which is obviously still required.
There’s no indication what will be
done with the property.”
As of press time, Seip said that themajority of employees should havereceived their final pay cheque and,
if not, they would have it soon.
The factory opened 29 years ago
and expanded into the 60,000 square
foot manufacturing facility and
warehouse that was claimed by the
blaze on Jan. 23.
Orders at MDL Doors will be
transferred to Masonite International
which, along with All WeatherDoors of Mississauga, will bedealing with outstanding and future
orders.
For Huron East Fire Chief Marty
Bedard’s full report on the fire, see
insert on this page.
Bedard presented the report to
Huron East council at its Tuesday
night meeting along with several
pictures of the site.
BY MARTY BEDARD
Fire dispatch received the call at
02:29:24
Grey was the first station paged,
followed by Brussels as this
property is in the dual page area.
Grey firefighter Adam Cochrane
was the first arriving firefighter as
he responded in his personal
vehicle. Adam was followed
seconds after by Allan Fretz of
Grey, Ron Stevenson and Jamie
Mitchell both from Brussels. All
responded in own vehicle.
Firefighter Stevenson informed
base that the structure was fully
engulfed and a third station should
be paged. North Huron was paged
for mutual aid and Seaforth tanker
was requested as well.
Due to the length of the building it
was decided to bring in Seaforth
pumper as well. We also brought in
the Aerial later in the day to
extinguish the fire from the top.
Below is a summary of vehicles
and personnel involved (on scene or
water assist in Brussels):
• Brussels Station – Pumper,
Tanker and Rescue and 22
Firefighters
• Grey Station – Pumper, two
Tankers and 14 Firefighters
• Seaforth Station – Pumper,
Tanker and Aerial and 10
Firefighters
• North Huron FD – Pumper and
two Tankers and 10 Firefighters
Due to the extent of the fire it
became an exterior attack trying to
knock down the fire from outside
only. The structures were made of
wood frame with steel cladding
which made it tough to get the water
through while holding the fire and
heat inside. Eventually the building
collapsed in, also making it tough to
put out hot spots.
The fire was under control at
approximately 10:30 a.m. and crews
remained on scene through the day
extinguishing all the flare-ups and
hot spots. Tankers trucked water
from Brussels, Grey Station Water
Tank and Seaforth. Crews also
drafted water from the river
throughout the day.
The extreme cold temperatures
made it challenging for firefighters
as pumps, hose lines and even
SCBAs were freezing up. I would
like to commend all firefighters
involved as they had to fight an
extremely large fire in extremely
cold weather conditions for over 14
hours. Everyone did a fantastic job.
All fire personnel were released
from scene at approximately
5:30 p.m. Brussels Station was
called back for one hour at
8:15 p.m. to put out a flare up.
I called the Ontario Fire
Marshal’s (OFM) office and an
investigator was assigned and
arrived on scene at approximately
12 noon on Wednesday.
A high hoe was brought in to
remove debris so the hot spots could
be extinguished. The high hoe also
assisted during investigation in the
days following.
The Fire Department provided
assistance on Thursday and Friday
with vehicles and firefighters during
the investigation.
The OFM investigator finished
Friday afternoon and released the
scene to the owners.
A huge thank you is extended
to the many people and businesses
who provided food and warm
drinks for the firefighters as well as
the many family members of the
firefighters who prepared the
food. This is a devastating event
and it is heartwarming to know you
have the support of the community.
A thank you ad was put in
The Citizen.
Just to give you an idea of the
many agencies involved in a large
scale event like this I have listed
who I know were involved one way
or another:
• Huron East and North Huron
Fire
• Huron County Emergency
Medical Service
• Huron County OPP
• Hydro One
• Huron East Public Works
• Huron East Water Dept and OMI
• Municipality Officials (Brad
[Knight, chief administrative
officer] and Jan [Hawley, economic
development officer])
• Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office
• Ministry of the Environment
• TSSA
• Donegan’s Construction
(Highhoe)
• TNT Security Company
• Brussels Business and the many
volunteers that fed the firefighters.
MDL decision a tough one for Lichty family
Fire damage
Huron East Fire Chief Marty Bedard presented the above picture to Huron East Council on
Tuesday night as part of his report, left, on the Jan. 23 MDL Doors fire outside of Brussels.
The pictures were included in the report and taken from one of the municipal fire department’s
aerial trucks. (Photo submitted)
The details of your wedding will be recorded
in black and white for friends to read and you
to clip for your scrapbook if you tell the story of
your wedding in our 2013 Bridal Parade.
1 photo of the bridal couple plus
300 word write-up (write it up yourself or pick up a
form from The Citizen office and fill it in and
we’ll write it for you).
Just $25 (including HST) - must be paid in advance.
Your story will appear along with those of other bridal
couples from the past year. As well, the story and
photo (plus up to two additional photos from your
wedding) will, be published on our Brides in Huron
website (www.northhuron.on.ca)
for your friends around the world to enjoy.
Deadline: February 8
Issue date: February 28
DON’T LET THE
MEMORIES
OF YOUR
WEDDING FADE
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Bedard recalls
story of MDL fire