A fire at a Bracebridge candle factory has taken many hours to put out.
Several times after crews arrived around 10:45am they seemed to have the upper hand only to have the smoke darken and thicken.
The Rich Hill Candles factory at 9 Robert Dollar Drive had smoke pouring out of various vents and soffits as crews were arriving to the scene.
Nearly 30 firefighters responded, including pump trucks and Ladder 11 to the metal building that is home to manufacturing scented candles, and also a fitness gym.
“When we arrived we did an interior attack,” said Deputy Fire Chief Jared Cayley. “Our crews were beat back because the fire was in different spots from what we could tell at this point. And we had to go to the defensive until we found it safe enough to go back in and aggressively attack the fire again to knock it down.”
The fire appeared to be under control as hoses were introduced through the front doors. Then there were three blasts of a klaxon, which typically means all firefighters should exit the building. Following that the operation became more defensive in nature, with the ladder truck spraying thousands of litres of water onto the roof structure.
This created a lot of steam and things appeared under control once more. Soon, however, darker smoke again began to pour out of the roof line resulting in one firefighter going up a ladder and cutting a vent/access hole near the roof peak. Then a hose line was brought up and water shot directly into the upper portion of the building.
Just before 2:45pm retardant foam was introduced in both the lower interior at the front and through the back as well. This seemed to have the desired effect, with crews settling in around the perimeter pouring more water onto the stubborn fire.
Rich Hill Candles has been in Bracebridge since 1975.
Video from 2:20pm
