Cleanup underway following auto wrecking yard fire

Thick black smoke could be seen as far away as 20 kilometres near Stratford, Ont. following a fire that started Sunday afternoon at an auto wrecking yard on the edge of Rostock.

“I could hear pops from my backyard, so I went down and the owner and one of his workers were pulling vehicles out on fire, with the loaders, to stop it from spreading to the next building. Eventually they had to back off because it just got so dangerous,” says neighbour, and one of the first people to call 911, Kelvin Savile.

Firefighters arrived at Schneider’s Auto Wrecking Yard at 4779 46 Line around 5:15 Sunday afternoon, to find a green cover-all building engulfed in flames, a blanket of black smoke and almost zero visibility.

A handful of neighbouring homeowners were evacuated as a precaution.

“The way the wind was blowing last night, the smoke was being directed out into the farmer’s fields, rather than the village where there are several homes,” says Perth East Fire Chief, Bill Hunter.

Crews from four Perth County fire stations were able to contain the blaze, that’s not considered suspicious, to a single building, bringing it under control in a matter of hours.

“The building had your typical auto parts wrecking yard items, tires and batteries, things like that. We’ve contained the area, and we’re required to notify the Ministry of Environment. Environmental companies get involved and assist with the cleanup. All that is taking place, starting today,” says Hunter.

He contends last night’s fire could have been a lot worse if not for the quick actions of the owners, locals who called 9-1-1 and his firefighters.

“This is a big operation. Several buildings on the property. Auto parts, tires, so it could have a lot bigger fire than what we ending up dealing with. But, it was still big enough, even with just the one building,” he says.

“The fire department did a great job saving the rest of the buildings,” says Rostock resident, Savile. “I give credit to the Perth East Fire Department, for sure.”