COCHRANE, Ont. — No injuries have been reported after a fire at a historic plywood mill over the weekend.
A fire broke out at the Rockshield Engineered Wood Products plant in Cochrane on Saturday, Aug. 10. It employs about 6,000 people, 200 being Cochrane residents.
“The Cochrane Fire Department, along with Expedition Helicopters, and fire crews from both Iroquois Falls and Kapuskasing worked to keep the main fire to the pond and chip pile area, and to areas of the roof for the most part,” wrote Mayor Peter Politis in a statement on Monday (Aug. 12).
“The mill itself remains intact and damages while worrisome, were minimized. This is great news as Rockshield is not only the largest employer in town but the magnitude of the incident had the potential to be quite devastating to the area.”
Politis said the plant has injected over $90 million into the local economy since restarting in 2015.
The Cochrane Food Bank took to its Facebook page on Monday noting that its thoughts are with the employees and their families impacted by the fire.
“We are deeply saddened to hear about the Rockshield fire that occurred this weekend… In times like these, it's important that we come together as a community to support one another.
If any employees or their families are in need of assistance, please know that the Cochrane Food Bank is here to help,” the food bank wrote.
Politis said he met with Rockshield on Monday.
“Right now the company and the town’s highest priority are the people who work at Rockshield and their families during this terrible disaster. I’ve met with Rockshield today and left feeling encouraged by the entrepreneurial spirit and their constructive focus on helping employees transition this situation,” he wrote.
“The company is committed to trying to restart operations assuming resources are available, and we will all be leaning on and working with all levels of government to do so.”
Marissa Lentz-McGrath is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of TimminsToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
