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Fire destroys smokehouse in Petit-Cap

A smokehouse in Petit-Cap was destroyed by fire Tuesday morning.

Processing plant on Northumberland Strait employed 40 people

Jennifer Sweet · CBC News ·
A long light gray warehouse type building with a green roof and bright orange flames coming off the length of its peak with gray and black smoke.
The Elphège & Norbert LeBlanc Ltd. smokehouse in Petit-Cap caught fire Tuesday morning. (Submitted to Radio-Canada)

A smokehouse in southeastern New Brunswick was destroyed by fire Tuesday morning. 

A report of smoke in Petit-Cap came in at 5:01 a.m., said Yves LeBlanc, deputy chief of the Cap-Acadie Fire Department.

A man with a scruff of dark facial hair and wearing a beige coat and white firefighter had bearing the words LeBlanc and Cap-Acadie on the front of it looks forward at an angle to the left. In the background is a bright blue sky with some clouds and a stack of two rows of some kind of containers in bright yellow, white and green. You can also see a blue building with a white roof.
Yves LeBlanc, deputy chief of the Cap-Acadie Fire Department, says firefighters were dispatched to the smokehouse at about 5 a.m. Tuesday after a report of smoke. (Radio-Canada)

On the way to the scene, about 57 kilometres east of Moncton on the Northumberland Strait, word came it may have been a garage fire, he said, speaking in French to a reporter from Radio-Canada.

But when firefighters arrived, they discovered it was actually a fish-processing smokehouse, said LeBlanc.

It's the latest of many fires in the area in the last several years, including several at smokehouses and other fish plants.

This time, the affected business is Elphege & Norbert LeBlanc, the Cap-Acadie Chamber of Commerce said in a news release. 

It's owned by Marc and Donna Cormier and has about 40 employees, said Anthony Azard, chamber CEO.

WATCH | 'This is a very sad situation for the business community here in Cap-Acadie'

The fire was in a large building, said the deputy fire chief, and working in the heat was difficult for firefighters.

In all, between 40 and 45 firefighters responded from Cap-Acadie's two fire stations, as well as departments in Shediac, Port Elgin and Dieppe, he said.

The fire was still burning when LeBlanc was being interviewed Tuesday morning. He expected firefighters would be on scene for most of the day.

LeBlanc said the fire started at the rear of the building, but the cause is still under investigation.

Grass, mud and water in front of a bank of white smoke, in which can be seen dark outlines of scattered rubble. Two firefighters work near a hose that runs across the grass and sprays water towards a small flame in the distance.
A long building was razed by the fire. (Nouemsi Njike/Radio-Canada)

He couldn't comment on any possible fire hazards on site.

Images from the scene show a large section burned to the ground.

"It's sad. It's very sad. It doesn't make sense," said Ally Wescott, who works at a smokehouse in the area.

"That many more people don't have a job. I hope they rebuild."

A woman with her brown hair in a pony tail and wearing glasses and a tank top faces the camera in a head and shoulders shot. the top of a microphone with the CBC logo can be seen at the bottom of the frame below her mouth. In the background are some blue and gray fishing bins, a grassy field and a line of leafy trees against a white sky.
Ally Wescott is a smoke shed employee in the Cap-Acadie area who is saddened by the loss of another local employer. (Radio-Canada)

Wescott said when she moved to Cap-Pelé from Sackville when she was 14, there were 28 smoke sheds in the area.

Several have burned down in recent years.

"We're running out of our shops to work for," she said.

"It is an unfortunate situation," said Azard.

"The Cap-Acadie Chamber of Commerce will guide the owners to the right resources at the right time and we will offer our support to the owners when it will be the appropriate time to do so," he said.

There are still about 20 smokehouses in the area, he said, and they play a big role in the local economy.

They mainly smoke herring for export to the Caribbean, but some also process alewives and mackerel.

The federal Fisheries Department announced a few days ago that the herring quota was being reduced again due to low stocks.

A man with short brown hair, parted on the side and brushed back, and a thin beard and moustache, wearing a black suit, white shirt and purple tie, smiles at the camera for a head and shoulders professional portrait.
Athony Azard, CEO of the Cap-Acadie Chamber of Commerce, says smokehouses are an important part of the local economy. (Cap-Acadie Chamber of Commerce)

Azard asked people not to speculate on the fire cause.

"Right now, we need to support the owners who have just lost an important asset," he said.

A report by the fire marshal's office obtained by CBC News last year found more than half of a spate of fires in the area had been deliberately ignited.

Azard said that as far as he knows, there have been no confirmed cases of arson in the area in the last year or so.

"With the most recent fires that happened in Cap-Pelé or Canadian Silver Herring, it wouldn't be arson at this point. This is information that I last had a few months ago."

Nathalie Cormier, the chamber board chair, also expressed "unwavering support" for the smokehouse owners and employees.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jennifer Sweet

Reporter

Jennifer Sweet has been telling the stories of New Brunswickers for over 20 years. She is originally from Bathurst, got her journalism degree from Carleton University and is based in Fredericton. She can be reached at 451-4176 or [email protected].

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