Factory fire on 207
What the cigarette factory on Route 207 looked like prior to it burning to the ground early Sunday morning. Courtesy Google Maps
Early Sunday morning, a fire of still unknown origins fully engulfed and destroyed a Quonset hut steel structure next to the BFK Cigarette store on Route 207.
The fire necessitated the involvement of three Kahnawake Fire Bridage (KFB) tanker trucks and 16 firefighters, along with water trucks from the Chateauguay, Lery, Rousillon, and Beauharnois fire departments to assist - with no fire hydrants on the 207, alternate sources of water are necessary.
“We had what we needed to manage the fire. We needed water supply. So, we asked for tankers for additional water,” said assistant fire chief Karonhiio Curotte, who was in charge of the scene on Sunday morning.
“We flowed probably something over 40,000 gallons of water for the entire fire. It was a significant amount of water,” he said.
“We want to thank the outside communities for sending their personnel and their tankers, they really helped us out, and I’d like to thank my firefighters for the job they did,” said Curotte.
The structure still stood when operations began to drown the fire, Curotte said.
“I wasn’t sending anybody inside, so I called in an excavator to tear it apart,” said Curotte.
The call to the KFB was made at 3:11 a.m., and Curotte said the fire was contained quickly once they were able to secure a steady supply of water. The KFB stayed on the scene for about four hours to extinguish the fire and demolish the building.
He said that the building was a cigarette factory, which contributed to the intensity of the blaze.
“The entire top of the building was glowing red hot from what was inside, and that was what was burning: cardboard boxes, cigarettes themselves, the machines, materials, whatever they have laying around, the forklift. There’s lots of material to burn once it gets going,” said Curotte.
Edward Tibbo, a witness to the fire, took videos of what was happening, which showed exactly what Curotte was describing: a building completely engulfed in flames, burning red hot.
Tibbo is from Chateauguay, and he heard of the fire while listening to the Chateauguay Fire Department’s scanner.
When the KFB called for tanker truck backup, and he heard that the fire was happening near the Wolfco gas station, he decided to take a drive to the location.
“I know a lot of people who are working at the Wolfco, and the owner of Wolfco,” said Tibbo.
“What it was is they were calling them to go on the 207 at the Wolfco, so I thought it was the Wolfco burning, that’s why I went over.”
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The Kahnawake Peacekeepers were the first responders on the scene, and an investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing, according to Jody Diabo, assistant chief Peacekeeper.
