Denis Lafond lost an agricultural chemical warehouse to fire in May but is making sure his farm clients still receive the supplies they need for seeding.
Lafond, co-owner of Greenspring Ag Services Ltd. in Debden, Sask., said suppliers in Canwood, Sask., and Shellbrook, Sask., have helped him provide products to farm customers after a fire early on May 15 burned his company’s chemical storage facility and offices.
“It’s a total write off, there’s nothing left,” Lafond said of the eight-year-old business that provides fertilizer, custom application, crop inputs and grain marketing services.
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He is using his truck, cell phone and former offices to remain open for business. A temporary storage shed was expected to arrive by May 26.
Lafonde, the second to arrive at the fire, attempted to extinguish it with a hand-held fire extinguisher but the fire was too advanced.
The local volunteer fire department responded five to 10 minutes later.
Lafond said chemicals were contained within the plant, which was an approved chemical storage facility with fire-rated walls.
“Everything worked the way it was designed to,” he said. No injuries were reported.
A state of emergency alert was imposed and families evacuated temporarily in the Rural Municipality of Canwood.
An investigation into the cause is under way.
Greenspring, the only such business in town, services more than 200 farmers in the mixed agricultural community in northwestern Saskatchewan.
It is valued at more than $500,000, Lafond said.
