‘An emotional day’
Sunday morning fire destroys office and store at Eyking Farms in Cape Breton
A massive fire early Sunday morning has destroyed the main office and store of Eyking Farms and did substantial damage to their hydroponic greenhouses.
However, it is still business as usual for the operation, which has customers throughout the Atlantic provinces and the Caribbean.
“It’s an emotional day for all of us but the hens still need looking after and I still have transplanting to do,” said a grim-faced Paul Eyking.
Eyking works on the farm, which is owned by his father John. The Florence Volunteer Fire Department responded to a call about the blaze at 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning. It took about eight hours to tame the blaze because the structure was made primarily of metal.
A water supply problem also made fighting the blaze difficult so five other fire departments were called into help.
Georges River and Big Bras d’Or departments came first and shuttled water from the Point Aconi Road area to the site, roughly 10 minutes away. Later on, crews were called to help from Sydney Mines, Southside Boularderie and Ross Ferry.
Four large furnace oil and propane tanks located both inside and outside the building helped fuel the blaze.
Even though firefighters left the scene around 10 a.m., thick smoke could still be seen throughout the early afternoon and the air was heavy with the smell of burned wood and plastic. While there was only partial damage done to the greenhouses, the fire leveled the main building, which housed the store and the main office and was a communication hub for the business.
“Our employees and our families are in a bit of a state of shock,” Eyking said. “Our hens will still keep laying eggs … but our cucumbers and tomatoes are out of commission.”
Jenny Tyson is a neighbour and was awakened when fire trucks arrived on scene.
“You can’t sleep through something like this, especially when it is that close to your home,” she said.
Tyson is a nurse who works at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital and she sat on her front step and watched the blaze until she had to go to work at 6:15 a.m.
“They are nice people,” Tyson said, adding she hoped the fire was accidental and not the work of vandals.
The blaze was so massive, Tyson was afraid it might spread to her property.
“With all the spruce trees around, you never know how fast it could spread,” she explained.
Staff Sergeant Ken O’Neill of the Cape Breton Regional Police confirms an investigation will be done with the fire marshal’s office to determine cause of the fire and security will remain on scene.
“It’s a big hole for us, that’s the best way I can describe it,” explained Eyking from the seat of his tractor.
“This tractor I am riding, is one of the oldest we have here right now, and, like this tractor, the people here, we take a licking and keep on ticking.”
Eyking says there aren’t any plans in place as of yet for things like a rebuild but the cleanup has started and will continue.
He remains positive and grateful for the firefighters who stopped the blaze and the people who made Eyking Farms what it is today.