By Darren Lum

March 25 2014

Holden Truss Ltd owner Kirk Holden was almost at his Eagle Lake home Thursday afternoon when he received a call alerting him of the fire at his building.

He is glad no one was hurt and is appreciative of the firefighters for saving his business
“The entire building would have been gone if Dysart [Fire Department] wasn’t on the scene as fast as they were and had as much support from the other departments as they did” he said.
When the Dysart Fire Department arrived at an Industrial Park Road business fire on Thursday afternoon they knew they needed help.
Dysart fire chief Miles Maughan said once they knew the size of the fire and the potential for damage they made sure to contact neighbouring fire departments from Minden and Algonquin Highlands.
“That’s our job any time. With a fire that size we knew it was going to take a lot of resources. It wasn’t particular to that building or that company” he said. “In order to do that we knew early on we would need a lot of resources and it worked out.”
Maughan said the wooden framed structure was typical but the co-ordination of three departments was the biggest challenge.
He estimates close to 50 firefighters and close to 18 trucks were on scene to battle the blaze. Pumper trucks were seen lining up collecting water at a nearby pond on Mallard Road off of Industrial Park Road.
The firefighters helped to limit the damage to just one-third of the building which included offices and part of the production area. The cause is not known.
The last fire that required this many firefighters Maughan said was back in 1986 for the Stedman’s fire in downtown Haliburton.
Holden’s father Brian started Holden Truss Ltd in 1986.
Kirk Holden took over in 2003 when his father retired.
The company which produces wood products such as joists beams hardware and roof and floor trusses for residential commercial and farm buildings has four employees and increases staff during the busier spring and summer months up to 12.
“The plan is to rebuild and once we get approvals and everything put to bed we’ll begin planning” Holden said.
The company is looking for temporary office space and expects to be operational this week.
His insurance broker has told him he is covered for his losses.
Although preliminary estimates released by the fire department are close to $600000 Holden said the final tally includes a few variables.
“Well who knows? You can pull any number out of your head” he said.
With cleanup whether some things are a write off or not will be the deciding factor on a final figure.
“The majority of the production area and machinery are intact. It looks like we should be able to get up and running quickly. Hopefully within two to three weeks if all goes well” he said.