Fire destroys farm equipment dealership in Summerside, P.E.I.

A farm equipment dealership near Summerside, Prince Edward Island, burned to the ground Saturday after a late-morning fire that poured dark, gray smoke into the sky for about three hours.

RCMP in Charlottetown said the fire broke out at Green Diamond Equipment Ltd. on Locke Shore Road near Route 2 around 11 a.m. on Saturday. By 2 p.m., fire crews had extinguished the blaze.

Strong winds, lack of water supply

Summerside Fire Chief Jim Peters said fighting the fire was challenging because of strong winds and a lack of water supply. That area doesn't have fire hydrants, he explained.

But Peters noted that local farmers stepped up and helped by providing water with their tankers.

"It was important. It enabled us to get our big-volume nozzles into play and we were able to have a continuous flow of water," he said.

Jason Gaudet lives and works at Sherbrooke Mechanical located next door to the blaze. He said he noticed smoke coming out of the building at around 11 a.m. and shortly after it was on fire.

Gaudet also heard ammunition going off inside the dealership. It scared him as his two-year-old daughter is celebrating her birthday today, he said.

Exploding ammunition

Police advised people to stay away from the area because of the exploding ammunition and to give fire crews room to maneuver.

Peters said the ammunition was connected to hunting rifles and shotguns inside the building.

"We knew where they were in the building we made sure we didn't get to close to them. The ammunition wasn't under pressure so there was no velocity involved with the ammunition," he said.

No one was hurt

Tina Sears, Green Diamond Equipment CEO, said she is overwhelmed by the incident.

"It's very sad to look at this and see a total loss of the building, but thankfully no one was hurt," she said.

"One of our technicians noticed the fire soon enough and was able to get the building completely emptied. Firefighters did everything they could, but with the winds and as quickly as it spread, it's gone."

Sears said about 45 people work at the building and 12 on weekends. She said staff will meet on Monday to discuss a plan moving forward.

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