Two fires erupted at the same location in Combermere, two days apart.
Fire Chief of Madawaska Valley Township Fire Department, Corwin Quade says flames broke out at Pastway Planing Limited on Thursday January 10th and Saturday January 12th.
He says they got the first call at 10:45 on Thursday morning and were on scene withing 8 minutes. They discovered heavy smoke in one of the shaving bins. He says the fire was extinguished and minor damage was caused. He adds that the 17 fire fighters who responded to the call were out of there within 40 minutes.
On Saturday, he says a second fire broke out in another bin, close to where the first fire started. They received the call at 3:14 in the afternoon and were on location withing 7 minutes. This fire was bigger Quade says. He adds that the fire got in between two walls which resulted in the firefighters having to cut 100 square feet of wall in order to fully extinguish the fire. He says that the 15 fire fighters that were called were on scene for 2.5 hours.
Chief Quade also stated that both fires were unrelated and qualifies the situation as a “freaky coincidence”. Fortunately no one was hurt and according to him, the fires aren’t affecting the business and that it’s work as usual for the planing mill’s employees.
Quade also wanted to remind the public to give the right of way to emergency vehicles when they have their emergency lights on. He says that on his way to the fire on Thursday, he had a hard time getting by 6 vehicles on Highway 62. He says he had to pass them one by one before having to follow a transportation truck who would not yield, for 3.5 kilometers. He reminds everyone that when you see those lights, let the vehicle pass as this could mean life or death for someone else.