Un important incendie s’est déclaré dans l’usine de transformation de crevettes Les Fruits de mer de l’Est, dix jours à peine après l’annonce de sa fermeture définitive.
Des images diffusées sur les réseaux sociaux montraient l’imposant panache de fumée qui s’en dégageait. Plusieurs camions de pompiers et d’autres premiers répondants se trouvaient sur place.
La Sûreté du Québec indique avoir reçu un appel pour porter assistance aux premiers répondants vers 18 h 30, mais aucun de ses agents ne s’est déplacé sur les lieux.
Vers 20 h 45, le brasier était toujours actif, alors que 35 pompiers de Matane et de la MRC de la Matanie tentaient toujours de circonscrire les flammes qui auraient pris naissance à l’intérieur du bâtiment.
L’électricité avait été coupée sur les lieux trois quarts d’heure plus tôt, a indiqué, au bout du fil, le maire de Matane Eddy Métivier, le bruit des sirènes retentissant en arrière-plan.
Un chariot élévateur pourrait être à l’origine du brasier, a-t-il précisé. « On est vraiment attristés de tout cela. C’est un drame de plus qui nous tombe sur la tête en plus de la fermeture [de l’usine]. »
A sector of Matane evacuated
A Matane resident contacted by The Press claims to have seen activity at the plant this week.
Questioned about this, its president, Jean-Pierre Chamberland, confirmed that some “people from the administration” were working there this week. However, there was “no activity and no one in the factory” when the fire broke out, he said.
On Radio-Canada, Jean-Pierre Chamberland indicated that a sector of rue Matane-sur-Mer had been evacuated due to the presence of ammonia in the burning building, a product used in particular for refrigeration.
On March 18, the Danish company that owns the Les Fruits de mer de l’Est factory, Royal Greenland, announced that it was closing down what was the oldest shrimp processing factory still in operation. .
The fall in the Nordic shrimp fishing quota, labor shortages and low prices in the seafood market are among the reasons given by the company, 100% of which is owned by the Greenlandic government .
The mayor of Matane, Eddy Métivier, spoke of “a total surprise” when the Danish company had recently invested millions to add lobster and crab processing to its activities, in addition to building 71 housing units for its temporary workers.
The closure caused 55 employees to lose their jobs as well as at least 104 temporary foreign workers.
Even if it is fished off the coast of Sept-Îles, in the Esquiman channel and around Anticosti Island, northern shrimp is often called Matane shrimp, because it is in this town of Bas-Saint -Laurent that the first processing plant was set up. Two other factories remain in operation, in Rivière-au-Renard and L’Anse-au-Griffon, in Gaspésie.