Fire destroys lumber mill in New Ross

A lumber mill in New Ross, N.S., has been destroyed by fire.

Four departments battled the blaze Thursday at L.E. Elliott Lumber on New Russell Road, with the New Ross Volunteer Fire Department assisted by firefighters from Kentville, Chester Basin and Western Shore.

Firefighter Bryce Keddy with the New Ross department said the fire was called in around 5 p.m.

Aiden Clement, a volunteer with the same department, said the mill was engulfed in flames by the time fire crews arrived.

Crews were at the scene until well after dark putting out hot spots.

Planer mill saved

Peter Elliott, the owner of mill, says the business has been in his family for three generations.

The original mill was built in 1933, and when his father bought it after the Second World War, he made some updates. The structure still has some of the original boards and beams, but the roof and sides were sheet metal. That made fighting the fire difficult because the sheets covered some of the flames, Elliott said.

While the sawmill was a total loss, fire crews managed to save a planer mill, which was only about 25 metres away, Elliott said.

"The planer mill was kind of in the line of the sparks and all the smoke and stuff. But I mean there was little fires all right around that and the fire department, like I can't say enough.… It's amazing that they did manage to save it."

Elliott said he doesn't know for sure how the fire started, but he guesses it might have been electrical.

No insurance

Elliott, who is 65, said it's too early to decide what will come next for him or the business. He estimates it would cost about $1 million to rebuild the mill, and he did not have insurance, as the cost would have been prohibitive.

But he's trying to remain positive about the situation.

"No one got hurt and it didn't spread to any other properties or anything. So … you've got to stay positive. It could have been a whole lot worse."