‘Devastated’: Potato chip factory in small New Brunswick town destroyed in large fire
Firefighters from several departments rushed to the scene of a large fire at the Covered Bridge Potato Chips factory in the New Brunswick town of Hartland on Friday evening, as heavy smoke and flames filled the air across the Trans-Canada Highway.
In an interview with Global News Saturday morning, Roy Reid, the assistant chief at the Hartland Fire Department, said fire crews were notified about the blaze at about 5:45 p.m. March 1. The chip plant had a shift ongoing when the fire broke out, but all employees were said to have been evacuated safely without injury.
“When we arrived, there was smoke coming out of the building,” he said.
Firefighters were forced to exit the facility after about 15 minutes due to the intensity of the heat and smoke, he added.
“Then after about 20 minutes, the roof fell in.”
Twelve fire departments were dispatched to help combat the massive fire at one of the town’s largest employers. Reid said first responders worked to suppress the flames for about five hours before it began to die down.
Reid said one responding firefighter was taken to hospital due to stress.
“We kept a crew here all night for security, and to put out hot spots,” he added, noting that he doesn’t expect the fire to rekindle.
“It’s bad for the community, there were about 100 people employed here,” he said, adding that he hopes the owners will be able to rebuild.
Sheyon Shayon Siriwardhana, a supervisor who was running a shift when the fire started, said it was just another normal day before things took a turn.
“We had an incident in the fryer room that escalated to a big fire. We couldn’t control it, so we called the fire brigade,” he said, adding that his main concern at the time was the safety of his coworkers.
“We made
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