RCMP are investigating the cause of a fire that destroyed the St. Mary’s Bay Fisheries plant overnight.
The fire broke out just before 9:00 last night.
No injuries were reported, but the building, one of the main economic drivers in the region, is a complete loss.
A fire investigator attended the scene today, and the site has been secured with the help of the Fire Commissioner’s Office and private security.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Holyrood RCMP.
(St. Mary’s Mayor Steve Ryan.)
Mayor says community is devastated by the loss
Crews from three volunteer fire departments braved severe weather conditions to battle the fire, which mayor Steve Ryan says very quickly spread through the building.
Ryan says there will be meetings today to assess the situation and discuss the possibilities.
He notes that about three years ago, new owners took over the facility, and have put a “substantial” amount of money in to it.
Ryan says last summer they had about 350 workers, which were a mix of local people and temporary foreign workers.
He says those workers have heard about the fire and have been sending messages from Mexico.
Plant a ‘success story,’ mayor hopeful it will be so again
The mayor says the way they were able to turn around the plant was a good news story, noting that it had become a big part of the fishery – believing that they had processed about 7-million pounds of crab last year.
Despite the devastating loss, Ryan is spreading a message of hope to residents, saying they fought hard to get what they had, and they will fight hard to get it back.
“It was a success story. Now this is after knocking us down on our knees, but we’ll come back. We’ll come back.”
