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Flames tear through a three-storey industrial building in Cookshire-Eaton as emergency responders work to protect nearby homes
By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
Fire tore through a century-old mill in Cookshire-Eaton on Wednesday afternoon, prompting a massive emergency response and raising concerns about just how close the community came to disaster. Just hours earlier, a separate fire at the PPD rubber plant in Waterville also triggered a large evacuation.
In Cookshire-Eaton, firefighters responded to a call around 4:20 p.m. at the Sawyerville Mill, a three-storey structure located on Bibeau Street. The proximity of nearby homes made the operation especially perilous.
“It was a defensive fire,” said Marcel Charpentier, division chief of operations for the Cookshire-Eaton Fire Department. “We saved all of the houses—there’s not one that burned down. We hosed them down and we made a firewall.”
Roughly 40 firefighters and four pumper trucks were mobilized from Cookshire-Eaton and neighbouring towns, including East Angus, Bury, and Saint-Isidore. Ambulances were also on site to monitor for heatstroke and assist exhausted responders.
Charpentier described the flames as intense and the situation as highly precarious. “We had to call Hydro-Québec to shut the power in the quarter,” he explained. “We also had to call the CP to stop the train from coming down because we were on top of the railway line.”
One of the key challenges was water access. With limited supply from hydrants, firefighters had to haul water from further away, which significantly slowed the response. “There is not enough water in the pipes to supply,” said Charpentier. “It’s unfortunate—it made the operation more complex.”
Despite the hurdles, the team succeeded in containing the fire and protecting surrounding homes, some of which had already begun to heat up. “It could have been a train, it could have been homes,” Charpentier said. “We came very close to a mini-disaster.”
The building, which Charpentier described as a significant employer with roughly 25 jobs, was completely destroyed. “It’s sad. These people worked hard,” he said. “This business has been handed down over the years. They were doing really well.”
He confirmed that insurance representatives were expected on-site the next day and that an investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing. “I’m not sure what really happened,” he said. “They’re working on that.”
While the fire spared homes and infrastructure, Charpentier noted the emotional toll on the community. “The community is burned. That was the only building that was not burned down before. I’ve never had so much cooperation in my life—it was really, really good.”
Earlier that same day, a fire broke out at the PPD rubber plant in Waterville around 1:30 p.m., forcing the evacuation of between 30 and 50 employees. According to Fire Captain Pascal Picard of the Waterville Fire Department, the fire began in a section of the factory where rubber was being mixed.
“It’s a rubber factory,” Picard confirmed. “The sprinklers did their job—they mostly extinguished the fire—but since the rubber was burning, the whole shop was filled with black smoke. We couldn’t see anything, but we ventilated the place.”
Although the building was not significantly damaged, one employee was transported to hospital by ambulance for smoke inhalation. The fire was confined to the machinery used for rubber mixing. “The building’s fine,” said Picard. “The only thing they need to do is fix the sprinkler, because when it goes off, the head needs to be replaced.”
Waterville firefighters were joined by teams from Compton and Memphrémagog-Est. In total, between 28 and 30 firefighters responded, working on-site until around 6:30 p.m.
Both incidents on July 30 tested the coordination and resilience of local fire departments, but thanks to quick responses and intermunicipal cooperation, the worst-case scenarios were averted.