Fire at Dutailier Glider Plant Yields Minor Damage

Furniture World Magazine

Dutailier Group inc., a Quebec-based manufacturer of wood gliders, accent leather upholstery and juvenile bedroom furniture repored that they lived through some terrifying moments Monday night as part of its wood glider plant caught fire at around 8:00 PM. ‘’Fortunately, there were no workers on the site at that time, so no injuries or losses of life are to be reported !’’ declared Mr. Fernand Fontaine, owner and president of the company. The fire seems to have started outside the building in a recycling container. It then spread to the exterior wall, and affected a large portion of the fabrics warehouse used for the wood glider cushions. ‘’We were extremely fortunate because the firewalls and fire alarm worked perfectly to stop the propagation of the fire and alert the fire department.’’ Mr. Fontaine explains. ‘’Furthermore, the local and regional firefighters did a tremendous job.’’ The owner and founder of the company, which distributes its products throughout North America as well as in a number of countries in Europe said he was actually amazed at how limited the actual damages were. The firefighters took exceptional care to ensure that most items in production as well as key equipment were protected from fire and water damage. In fact, no major equipment was damaged by the blaze. The production line itself is located in a separate part of the building and was completely spared. Only the section devoted to fabric cutting and cushion preparation was affected, and all the equipment from these departments will very soon be relocated in the other plants, either in St-Hyacinthe or Ste-Anne-de-la-Pérade. ‘’The good news’’, explains Mr. Fontaine, ‘’is that none of the nearly 200 jobs are at risk in the St. Pie plant and the effects on our customers will be fairly limited. We presently have an important inventory of finished products that are ready to ship, and we will be able to resume production in a fairly normal fashion in a few days.’’ Limited damage is the conclusion for the leader of its category.