Fire breaks out at Mississippi Mills public works garage, destroying plow truck

A fire broke out in the Mississippi Mills’ Rod Cameron Garage Friday night, when a plow truck caught fire inside the green addition.

The Mississippi Mills Fire Department (MMFD) was dispatched to the location just after 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7 after the alarm system was triggered.

No one was hurt as result of the incident, according to Mississippi Mills mayor Christa Lowry. She explains in a statement that the fire was contained to the area of the garage where the truck was parked, and firefighters were able to safely remove it and extinguish the fire.

The plow that was lost is described as an older unit single-axle truck, used for in-town operations.  

“Although the garage and other vehicles housed inside experienced some smoke damage, our Roads and Public Works team has confirmed to Council and me that the department remains fully operational,” Lowry said.  

Significant cleaning of the structure and vehicles will be needed due to the heavy smoke exposure, and further assessments will be completed to identify any potential unseen damage. 

Lowry noted that this situation could have had a much different ending.

“Had it not been for the quick actions of our Mississippi Mills Fire Department, last night’s fire could have been devastating – crippling to our Public Works operations. The MMFD consistently answers the call for our community. I am grateful to our firefighters for answering the municipality’s own call last night.”   

Lowry also thanked neighbouring fire departments from Carleton Place, Beckwith and Lanark Highlands, who aided the Municipality in this matter.