LEAMINGTON — A discarded cigarette likely started the fire that caused $2.3 million in damages at a produce plant on the weekend, Leamington Fire Services Deputy Chief Mike Bradt said Monday.
The damage estimate at TopLine Farms at 500 County Road 18 includes about $300,000 for the building and about $2 million potentially for the produce and materials inside, including boxes, he said.
“There was a considerable amount of smoke inside the structure so all the product has to be reviewed,” said Bradt.
Insurance adjusters were going over the damages Monday.
Westmoreland-TopLine Farms is a greenhouse grower and shipper. The produce listed on the company’s website includes greenhouse tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants and organic produce such as organic tomatoes on the vine and grape tomatoes.
Greenhouses would be in full production this time of year.
The Leamington plant west of Highway 77 is listed as the company’s headquarters. The business has greenhouses in Canada, United States, Mexico and Central and South America. The company couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.
The fire started Saturday night and the suspected cause announced Monday was a discarded cigarette butt. Bradt said the fire grew quickly because wooden pallets with plastic were stacked at the side of the building. There was a large column of black smoke from the blaze. He said there would be no charges.
Firefighters knocked down the fire quickly and the sprinkler system inside helped. But the wind was pushing smoke into the building, Bradt said.
“Ventilation was the biggest issue,” he said of the work that kept firefighters busy for hours Saturday night until about 1 a.m. Sunday. “Because of the wind direction, the amount of smoke inside the structure and the size and square footage of the structure, we had to ventilate all the toxic smoke out of the building. It took quite a bit of time to do that.”
The employees all got out safely by the time the firefighters arrived Saturday night and there were no injuries.
The Kingsville fire department assisted because of the ongoing heatwave. The extreme heat of the fire and outdoor temperatures exceeding 30 Celsius meant the two departments had to rotate firefighters with air packs in and out of the building, he said.
“When the weather’s like this it makes it really hard. The gear these guys wear is almost like a snowmobile suit,” said Bradt.
He thanked Kingsville firefighters and the Salvation Army which attended to help firefighters deal with the heat.
Leamington has hired a new fire chief, Andrew Baird, who is expected to start Aug. 23. Former chief Chuck Parsons is now Kingsville’s fire chief.
Link to original article in Windsor Star.com: Cigarette blamed for million-dollar blaze at Leamington produce plant