Water bottling factory burns down in rural Manitoba
Fire has destroyed a water bottling factory in southeast Manitoba.
Fire crews were called out to the Sky Blue Water Factory in the community of Middlebro at about 3:30 a.m. Monday.
Duane Boutang, reeve of the Rural Municipality of Piney, said the steel structure was engulfed in flames by the time fire crews arrived.
Boutang hopes the factory, which was just undergoing an expansion and employed 20 people in the Middlebro area, will be rebuilt.
"It's very difficult for us, using a volunteer fire department, to get on those fires very quickly," he said.
"We have to roust the people and we have to get there and get their equipment. And water's always an issue."
There are no fire hydrants in the rural areas, which means the supply of water must come from a pumper truck.
