LODGE BAY, N.L. — A fire tore through three buildings in Lodge Bay last week, leaving two residents with significant losses.
An old school and two sheds were destroyed in the blaze on Thursday, Nov. 7.
It is believed the fire started at the school and was carried along by high winds to the two sheds.
The Lodge Bay Fire Brigade and Mary’s Harbour and Red Bay volunteer fire departments were called to the scene as well as Mary’s Harbour RCMP.
To ensure public safety, heavy equipment was used to demolish and bury the old school.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Jolene Garland said this was determined to be the safest course of action to ensure the fire could not spread given the heavy winds.
She confirmed the original source of the fire is believed to be known and is not criminal in nature.
While nobody in the southern Labrador town was physically harmed, several possessions were lost.
Old school lost
Keith Rumbolt used the old school as a warehouse and workshop.
He estimates he lost $500,000 or more in equipment.
Contents included about $150,000 worth of fishing gear, restaurant equipment for the hotel, outboard motors, five snowmobiles and an assortment of other items.
“Took me 20 some odd years to put it in there, I doubt I’ll ever replace it,” he told The Northern Pen.
“I don’t even have a hammer.”
More significant, to him, is the history lost with the destruction of the school.
St. James All Grade hosted students from Kindergarten to Grade 9 before it was closed and the property was purchased by Rumbolt.
Rumbolt had thrown out some old items from the school but had kept others, including encyclopedias, National Geographic editions — back to the first edition, he says — and schoolbooks.
There were paintings on the ceiling tiles students had done.
It was years of artwork and history.
“Every time you’d have a rough day, you’d go in and look up and see all those kids who are now men and ladies and gone away and got their education. This was their childhood art project,” said Rumbolt. “It was amazing to see. It’s all gone.”
Three sheds gone
Garland Pye was the owner of the two sheds.
He says a third shed was demolished as a precaution to prevent the fire from possibly spreading to the house.
He estimates more than $100,000 in property was lost.
His most prized possessions consumed by the blaze were three snowmobiles — including a new machine he got for Christmas just last year.
Nothing was insured.
However, he’s confident that he’s working enough, at his business with his wife, to afford a new snowmobile in the near future.
Pye called the event an “eye opener”.
“It’s got the town focusing on fire prevention again,” he told The Northern Pen.
Better equipment needed
Keith Rumbolt said the local fire brigade was unable to get its pumps to start at the scene of the recent blaze.
The chair of the local service district says the equipment dates back to the 1970s.
As an unincorporated community, it can’t request funding from the province for better equipment.
With a population of about 70, he says it lacks the tax base to become incorporated and pay the cost share on such a purchase.
Instead, the town is taking steps to make changes to the fire brigade.
After the fire Rumbolt called a public meeting to discuss the brigade’s future.
In the course of the meeting, the town elected a new executive for the fire brigade, a new firefighting team and a new fire chief, Nikki Greeley.
“(The new fire chief) is right on the ball and very active and she’s started trying to replace some of this equipment for the town,” he said.
He says the local service district will be working side-by-side with the brigade.
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