TYNE VALLEY, P.E.I. — The chief of the Tyne Valley Fire Department, William Bishop, says never before did his department ever have to call in as much equipment as it had on the scene Sunday to fight the fire at the Tyne Valley Community Sports Centre.
A passersby called 9-1-1 around 2:50 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 29 to report the rink fire.
Flames were already shooting out through the roof and the front doors of the arena when the first firefighters arrived at their hall directly across the road at 3 a.m.
Smoke from the fire was blowing directly at the fire hall, but because it is a steel building, Bishop said it was never in danger.
Of greater concern was the Stewart Memorial Home just a little further away. The building’s air exchange system was shut off to keep toxic smoke from the fire out.
“We called Mutual Aid right off the bat,” Bishop said.
Lennox Island, O’Leary, West Point and Wellington fire trucks arrived in quick succession, and Miscouche and Summerside fire departments were called in around 6:30 a.m. to replenish spent air bottles.
With all of the black, toxic smoke given off by the one-inch rubber mats on the floor throughout the building and the plastic puck boards, Bishop said responding departments went through a lot of air bottles. Some firefighters used five or six bottles themselves.
Bishop said more than 60 firefighters, including 30 from his department, were part of the firefighting effort.
“I’ve never had that many resources at a fire before,” Bishop said. “Without them, we’d still be there.”
Fire under pressure
Bishop has no estimate, except “a lot” for the amount of water pumped on the fire, as pumpers were being supplied water directly from the fire hall. Responding tankers arrived full, and water was also trucked to the scene from Lennox Island’s hydrant system.
Bishop compared the rink fire to “a cardboard box in a woodstove”.
He said the steel siding contained the heat and the pressure inside the building until a hymac excavator peeled away steel, thus relieving the pressure and providing firefighters with access to the flames.
The fire chief said the heat from the fire was so intense, the ice had melted and water was boiling on the ice pad’s concrete floor.
Firefighters were able to enter initially through the Zamboni room, and a firefighter was able to fish around in the thick smoke, find the key and drive the Zamboni safely outside. That section of the rink and the adjacent mechanical room which has concrete walls, sustained only minor damage, while the rest of the building was destroyed.
The fire was under control, and most departments were able to stand down by 8 a.m. Lennox Island remained at the scene until 9 a.m. and Tyne Valley firefighters, many of whom were regular users of the sports centre, were at the scene until 11 a.m.
Winter hub wiped out
“It’s pretty disheartening when you look across the road,” Chief Bishop said of the sight of the destroyed arena from his firehall’s bay doors.
“It’s such a vital part of the community. We’re not a very big community and the only thing we have to rally around in the wintertime is it,” Bishop described the magnitude of the loss.
He sympathized with the rink board which had managed to pay off the building’s mortgage and recently installed solar panels to help with utility costs.
“You were just getting your feet under you and you get a major setback like this,” he reflected. “It’s quite a blow.”
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
Robert Millar, who played senior hockey in Tyne Valley and watched his children play hockey there, arrived Tuesday morning to take photos of the crumpled mess.
“It’s a big loss,” he acknowledged.
Bishop displayed a hockey jersey from a 2002-03 era Tyne Valley senior team. It was the only thing salvaged following the fire and it bore the scars of the heat. The jersey had been stashed away with others in an upstairs equipment room.
“It was in a pile of melted plastic. It was just one big orange heap of plastic. The boys separated the plastic and that’s what came out of it.”
Bishop said he will be hoping a debriefing session with his firefighters once things settle down. “Everyone is still trying to get their head around what happened.”
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