Brome Lake Ducks suffers serious damage in major blaze

A major fire destroyed the Knowlton facilities of Pekin duck breederBrome Lake Ducks in the Montrgie region after flames broke out early Saturday morning.

The fire started around 3:45 a.m. and about 100 firefighters responded to the call.

• 50,000 ducks die in fire at Brome Lake Ducks near Racine, Quebec

The cause of the fire is unknown.

No ducks were injured, but the extent of the damage is serious.Theproduction facility and offices are a complete loss, whichworriesemployees.

"If there's no slaughterhouse, I think we'll probably get laid off for a little while until everything gets brought back up," said employee Shawn Greenwood.

The company assures customers the fire will not hinder production of their duck meat.

"One of our shareholders has facilities in the United States and was quick to offer support," BromeLake Ducks spokesperson Mylne Grenier said.

"So we've transferredpart of our operation there along with some of our employees."

In January, a fire ravaged anotherfacility in Racinebelonging to the same companyand killed 50,000 ducks.