Workers, town stare down uncertain future after loss of Dorset Fisheries plant
The initial shock of losing their fish plant is beginning to wear off in Norman's Cove-Long Cove, and now people in the community are grappling with what the future may hold.
About 240 people were thrown out of work when the Dorset Fisheries processing plant at the bottom of Trinity Bay burned to the ground on the evening of July 21.
"It was a heartbreak," Charles White, a plant worker, said. "[It could've] brought tears to the eyes."
It's a big blow for the town of 700 or so. The 30-year-old plant is a economic anchor for the area. Most of the workers live nearby.
Plant Manager Terry Reid said Monday that hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of capelin and lobster were lost in the fire, but fishermen are landing more.
There would normally be about 90 people working to process the fish, but Reid said all this capelin won't go to waste.
"We're trucking it out to other plants wherever we can get rid of it to try to help the fishermen out a bit here," he said.
"The shock is starting to wear off and the reality is starting to kick in," councillor Henry Brenton told the St. John's Morning Show Monday. "They're wondering if the plant is going to open. You know, are they going to rebuild it, or what's going to happen?"
"I guess that decision will be made later on, down the road, because we know that there was 100 per cent coverage on the plant, so hopefully that news will come out in favour of replacing the plant and that will take some of the pressure off."
Reid said he met with MP Judy Foote over the weekend to talk about programs to help the employees. While a plan to rebuild the plant hasn't been figured out yet, Reid said the plant's workers are hoping one will be in the months to come.
Fishermen also hit by fire
It's not just fish plant workers who were hit directly by the fire, but also between 10 to 12 fishermen who had fishing gear stored in a shed next to the plant.
That building was a total loss too, said Brenton.
"One of the fisherman said he had over $30,000 worth of gear in there. So there's an incredible amount of money gone up in smoke there for sure."
The fishermen he spoke with don't believe there was any insurance on the contents of the shed.
Brenton got wind of the fire shortly after it began when he got a call at home around 9:20 p.m. Thursday. He immediately went to the plant.
"When I got there, oh man, she was going pretty good there and in the matter of another hour she was completely engulfed and there was no way they were ever going to save it."
Norman's Cove-Long Cove fire chief Gary Rideout said the first call was a report of a transformer fire on an electrical pole.
"Within a couple of minutes it just erupted through the roof and travelled very quickly through the building," Rideout said of the fire.
Five volunteer fire departments responded, but since the flames spread so quickly through the plant, there was intense heat and explosions as propane tanks and other equipment were consumed.
The only people there at the time were two maintenance workers who noticed smoke as they were about to leave for the day. Just hours before, 70 to 80 workers were in the plant processing capelin.
There were no injuries.
Some answers expected this week
Brenton doesn't want to consider the outcome if the plant is not rebuilt.
"It's a big part of the infrastructure of this town gone. It's the jobs. It's a big part of the town's tax base. You know, it's devastating on a little town like this," he said.
"It's a place not only you go to work but most people go down there for a little talk, you know, it's the heart and soul of a little town like this … a fishing town."
He said the town hasn't yet had any formal communications with the plant's owner, Derrick Philpott. That is expected to change this week, after Philpott holds meetings with representatives of the federal and provincial governments.
Brenton said meetings are scheduled for Tuesday. He hopes people will begin to get answers to some of their questions by the end of the week.
Investigators were on the scene Monday sifting through the rubble, trying to figure out how the fire started. They are expected to be there for a while.
About half the site remains off limits.
Brenton said a 20-kilogram propane tank on one of the plant's forklifts appears to be bloated with pressure and there are fears it may explode. An expert is being called in to depressurize the tank.
Plant management have arranged other buyers for the capelin caught by fishermen who headed out Monday morning.
"The inshore fishermen will be selling capelin today, thank God," said Brenton.
