(Birket Foster photo)
CHESTERVILLE — The owners at Vanden Bosch Elevators are mopping up after a fire that broke out in a storage barn beside the Chesterville operation’s collection of storage bins on Sunday morning, Oct. 27. The fire damaged the dryer, according to the family, but local firefighters from North Dundas and South Dundas townships prevented the flames from spreading further.
The fire was noticed around 7 a.m. No one was hurt in the blaze.
Five fire department water tankers ferried water to the scene for much of the day as firefighters hosed down the barn’s smouldering ruins. Some remained on scene until after dark that night.
“Today we were devastated by an accidental fire on our farm that destroyed one of our barns that contained essential equipment and damaged our dryer system,” Deanna Vanden Bosch wrote later the same day in a social media post also shared by her husband, Brent Vanden Bosch.
The statement concluded: “We are so very thankful that nobody was injured. Everyone is safe…This is definitely a setback for our family farm during our harvest, but we will recover. We are grateful for the amazing firefighters that attended the fire. They worked so very hard today and every day. We are so very grateful for our farming families, friends and community that came to support us today. Your kindness will never be forgotten. Our family is so very grateful for all the support. Tomorrow will bring a better day…. During a difficult time we are forever grateful for everything….”
The Vanden Bosch family has cropped land in the Chesterville area since the mid-1960s. They’ve been in the grain-storage business since the late 1970s.
Firefighters on scene at Vanden Bosch Elevators, not long after the fire was noticed in the barn. (Birket Foster photo)
Firefighters and an excavator deal with the smouldering ruins of the barn. (Nelson Zandbergen photo)
