108 lose jobs in overnight fire at Miscou Island fish plant
When the fire started at the Miscou Fish Product plant early Thursday morning, Miscou wharf master Richard Lareguy jumped into the first truck he found outside the building, hoping to at least save some crab — to no avail.
"When we're panicking, we do what we can," said Lareguy, who did manage to save two trucks.
Employees who were in the fish plant when the fire started got out safely, but the building was engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived.
The plant, which was expanded last year and employed 108 people, eventually collapsed.
Later on Thursday, Lareguy stood in front of 23,000 pounds of live crab, condemned, he said, because they came in contact with toxic smoke from the fire.
He and plant workers gathered around the remains of the factory, known for the large Acadian flag painted on the roof.
More than 100 lose employment
"Everybody this morning was crying, it's a shock for everyone," Lareguy said. People who worked at the plant liked it there. The owner, a Japanese man, is "a nice guy," he said.
"I've heard it's a great team. Everyone's happy to work there."
The company on Rue de Quai de Miscou on the southern shore of Miscou Island produces about one million pounds of herring products a year, as well as snow crab and lobster, and exports to the United States and Europe.
The only good news after the fire was that the owners of other plants told Lareguy they would employ people from Miscou Fish Product to finish the season, he said.
"Nobody's going to stay on their butt," he said.
Employees called for help
Sgt. Stéphane Blanchard of the Caraquet RCMP said police got the call about the fire at 1 a.m. from employees.
"They discovered some smoke and evacuated right away and called the emergency services, so no one was hurt," he said.
The fire marshal will look at the debris "and hopefully find a cause for the fire," Blanchard said
RCMP members trained in fire investigations were on their way as well.
Employees saddened
Denis Rail worked at the plant for four weeks and liked the job. He's unsure what will become of it.
"I wait for the boss to tell me what's going on, and I'm looking for another job," he said.
Another employee, Gary Doucet, said things just started looking up for a lot of people on Miscou Island. He , too, took a job at the plant four weeks ago.
"It's really sad because something good happened for Miscou and all of a sudden you see this," he said. "It's going to be hard on everybody."
Factory expanded last fall
The Chamber of Commerce for Lamèque and Miscou turned to Facebook to show its support.
"The overnight fire at the Miscou Fish Product factory is a huge loss to our local economy," the chamber wrote.
"Several people of Miscou, Sainte-Cécile and Pigeon Hill worked there. We hope that they will be able to work at other factories on the islands … courage to all."
