Devastating fire at Havelock fire station damages trucks, equipment

The chief of the Havelock Volunteer Fire Department says residents should still feel safe despite a fire that ripped through their building.

The fire, which caused significant damage to the building on Thursday morning, is believed to have started in the rescue truck and then spread to the rest of the trucks and station.

“There’s a lot of smoke damage, some fire damage, a lot of damage too our trucks and we’ve lost a lot of equipment,” Havelock Fire Chief Arlan Dunfield told Global News.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There's a lot of smoke damage, some fire damage, a lot of damage too our trucks and we've lost a lot of equipment," Havelock Fire Chief Arlan Dunfield told Global News.

Despite the damage, Dunfield said residents can depend on help from nearby communities such as Salisbury and Petitcodiac.

The fire call came in around 11:30 a.m. and it was brought under control 15 to 20 minutes later.

Lloyd Coates was among workers in a garage near the department who were among the first to see the smoke.

“I came out and saw smoke billowing out of the fire station, so we went down to see what we could do,” he said. “We called 911 and I went up and got the backhoe and came down in case the boys needed it.”

From there, Coates quickly used a backhoe to haul away the burned-out van before the fire could get any worse.

The fire continued to smolder in the roof of the building after the flames had been put out.

The department is still trying to assess the damage caused by the fire.