Riverdale blaze levels mink ranch storage garage

Exploding acetylene torches and downed power lines hindered firefighters as fire destroyed a storage garage at Jason Mullen's mink ranch in Riverdale early Thursday morning.

Southville firefighters were forced to pull back from the structure shortly after they began battling the blaze. The fire was fully developed when the Southville fire department arrived on the scene.

Mutual aid was requested from Havelock, Weymouth, Plympton and Gilbert's Cove, St. Bernard and Little Brook fire departments. Barton and Richfield departments were on standby. "Once the power company arrived and cut the power supply, we could continue to 'surround and drown' the blaze from all sides," said Southville fire chief Doug Cromwell.

High winds and near freezing temperatures hampered firefighting efforts. Hose nozzles were freezing up and the ground iced up from so much water, Cromwell said.

The building, which was also used as a machine repair shop, housed some of the equipment for the ranch, including six feed carts and a ‘gator’ along with mink cages, acetylene torches and tools.

A new tandem truck and float were parked to the side of the building while a backhoe sat in front of the garage. The strong winds drove the flames toward the heavy equipment and destroyed both pieces.

Ranch foreman Charles Peters, whose home is in front of the ranch, was alerted by his dog ‘George’ around 4 a.m. "George set to barking before 4 and when I woke I smelled smoke. I thought the house was on fire the smell was so strong. When I looked out the back window, the flames were shooting up over the fence."

Peters said the fire damage could have been much worse. "If the wind had been from the opposite direction we would have lost the mink pens that were on the opposite side of the garage."

Firefighters remained at the scene until after 9 a.m., and Southville and Havelock fire departments returned around 6 p.m. to put out some hot spots. They were there about an hour.

Cause of the blaze is undetermined.

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