Vienna Farms apple facility $3-million fire loss

A Bayham volunteer firefighter sprays water on the smouldering ruins of the Vienna Farms apple storage facility on the east side of Plank Road between Vienna and Port Burwell on Wednesday morning, March 21. Bayham Fire Chief Randy White said about 45 firefighters from his two stations, two stations in Malahide and a Norfolk station fought the massive blaze that was reported at 8:40 p.m., Tuesday, March 20. A total of 12 fire trucks, including Aylmer’s aerial apparatus (ladder truck), were used in the effort to extinguish the main fire. Martin’s Family Fruit Farm, based out of Waterloo, owns the Vienna Farms facility and one of the family members told Chief White the fire caused a $3-million loss in refrigeration equipment, apples, storage bins and the large building itself. While no one was at the facility when the fire broke out, Chief White said a firefighter tripped on the uneven ground in the dark when he first arrived and was taken to an area hospital to be checked out but was quickly released and back fighting the fire later that evening. For more on the fire, see the Wednesday, March 28 print edition of the Aylmer Express (AE/Craig Bradford)