Merlin business gutted by fire

Saturday October 06 2012

By Craig Hendry

Firefighters from three stations battled a massive blaze at Maris Technical in Merlin late Friday night.

Firefighters from Station 17 Merlin were paged out at 11:07 p.m. for a reported structure fire at Maris Technical located at 1 Erie Street South in Merlin. Crews pulled out of the fire hall to a wall of fire and smoke from the fully involved commercial building that was less than 100 meters down the street. The Assistant Station Chief for the Merlin station immediately requested mutual aid from Station 16 Raleigh South, along with Station 19 Tilbury’s aerial ladder truck.Fire crews from Station 16 arrived to a still fully engulfed building. Both pumper trucks from Stations 16 and 17 unloaded a furry of water from their on-board water cannons; in an attempt to gain the upper hand on the inferno. The ladder truck from Tilbury arrived and set up, only to stand by due to lack of water pressure in the small town of Merlin.

Firefighters worked ferociously to save a home right next door to Maris Technical where Glenda Sales lives. She couldn’t thank the firefighters enough for saving her home, Sales stated; even though the house suffered some damage. Sales was at work when the fire broke out.

Maris Technical is an auto and farm repair shop located in a historic building across the street from Newham Chevrolet in Merlin. The building itself is a total loss, as are the tools and equipment stored in the building, and the livelihood of a family.

Fire crews remain on scene putting out hot spots, and any potential flare ups.

C-K police will be conducting an investigation with the Fire Department.

The cause of the blaze, and damage estimates are not yet known.

No injuries were reported.

A video of the fire is available on the CKReview front page.

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