Mary Vandermarel couldn’t describe the feelings going through her head while she watched as her family’s business, Vandermarel Trucking, was devastated by fire last Saturday morning.
“When I arrived at the scene and saw this is going to be pretty bad, I leaned against a pole,” Mary recalled of her first reaction.
When she initially got a call about a fire from the company’s security company, she thought it was something minor. She called her son Bob, the shop foreman, to check out the fire – and she was soon made aware it was a major incident.
And when thick smoke was replaced by flames shooting out of the building, she knew it would be devastating.
Her other sons Dave and Anthony pointed out where potential combustible material was located to firefighters from four departments who converged on the Dickson Drive business to fight the blaze.
The family-owned business has operated for 24 years. In addition to dozens of drivers, it employs a total of 14 people at the Fergus location.
“There are six people in the shop, six in the office and my husband and myself,” said Mary.
Her husband and business co-owner Andy Vandermarel was on a truck run to Texas at the time of the fire and was expected to arrive home to Fergus on Wednesday. He has since seen the devastation via internet from the U.S.
Mary said she was impressed by the coordinated effort to save the business by firefighters from Centre Wellington, Guelph, Wellington North (Arthur) and Guelph-Eramosa, as well as the assistance given by her sons.
At one point Bob shouted at firefighters who were about to enter one of the smoke-filled buildings.
“Bob hollered for them to stop, don’t go in, because beyond the door there was a six-foot concrete pit,” she recalled. “They could have fallen because they wouldn’t have seen it because of the smoke.”
Mary added, “Our family appreciates the firefighters who worked so well together and worked well professionally.”
By Monday a temporary Vandermarel Trucking office had been set up at the Centre Pentecostal Church and the family had received offers to use buildings for shop work.
Centre Wellington Fire Chief Brad Patton said the Vandermarel Trucking fire resulted in one of the biggest financial losses in the township in the past decade.
Patton explained the call came in shortly after 9am on Nov. 16 and firefighters remained on the scene until 5pm. The 20,000 square foot main shop buildings were destroyed.
Patton said one of the difficulties for firefighters was the metal clad building construction, which made the blaze difficult to access.
“It was kind of like going into a wood stove,” he said. “You can’t really get much until you get inside.”
Patton said firefighters battled the blaze for roughly four hours. Crews were able to access the office area during the fire, he noted.
During that time, firefighters were able to remove a number of computers, servers and a lot of the business documents and files – “things the business will need during the recovery process,” said Patton.
He believes the majority of the computer equipment was pulled out as time permitted.
Additionally, “We were able to pull out a number of tractor trailers at the height of the fire.”
Patton believed two of the vehicles were totally destroyed.
“We are still putting all the reports together,” he noted. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the loss was $1.5 million, including the contents of the building.”
If so, Patton said, “this would be the biggest dollar loss in Centre Wellington for the past 10 years.”
The cause of the blaze is not yet determined.
“We’re still looking into it,” Patton said.
During the Nov. 18 Centre Wellington council session, councillor Mary Lloyd said, “I want to commend our fire department for the job that they did with the fire at Vandermarel Trucking in our industrial park.”
She said firefighters got everyone on board and brought in extra help to help a local family business stay in business in Centre Wellington.
“We really appreciate that,” Lloyd added.
Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj noted councillors were sent information from the fire chief regarding the damage estimates.
Mary Vandermarel said the plan is to rebuild the business, once total losses are established and a final damage assessment done.
The Wellington County OPP, in partnership with the Centre Wellington Fire Rescue Department, is continuing to investigate the fire.
Anyone with information can contact Wellington County OPP at 1-888-310-1122.
For those wishing to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or submit a tip on-line at www.crimestoppersguelphwellington.com. Those providing tips may be eligible for a reward from Crime Stoppers of up to $2,000.
