March 7, 2014, Dunnville, Ont. – The cleanup has begun at Rosa Flora,
site of yesterday’s devastating fire that destroyed about 30 per cent of
its production greenhouses and its head office facilities.
March 7, 2014, Dunnville, Ont. – The cleanup has begun at Rosa Flora, site of yesterday’s devastating fire that destroyed about 30 per cent of its production greenhouses and its head office facilities.
No one was in the buildings at the time the fire broke out. Fire crews responded about 1 a.m. on Thursday, and continued to battle the blaze throughout the morning.
“We’re now going to assess the damage and decide how to move forward,” co-owner Ralph DeBoer told reporters.
'DEEPLY TOUCHED BY THE MANY EXPRESSIONS OF KINDNESS'
The company posted the following note of thanks on its Facebook page.
The fire destroyed about 15 acres of the company’s 40 acres of greenhouses, along with sales, administration and logistics facilities, along with the flower cooler unit. The main crops affected were snapdragons, lisianthus and some gerbera.
GREENHOUSES ON OTHER SIDE OF ROAD NOT AFFECTED
Greenhouses on the other side of the road, in which much of the company’s gerbera production is carried out, were not affected. These greenhouses are also home to alstroemeria and other cut flower crops.
On that side of the road, said DeBoer, “it’s business as usual. We’re working with our customers to continue to service them.”
Rosa Flora was established in 1978, by Otto and Corine Bulk. In 2012, Otto was honoured with the 2012 Flowers Canada (Ontario) Lifetime Achievement Award ("Bulk earns 2012 FCG ‘Achievement’ award.")
“Hopefully this is just a bump in the road and we’ll continue to move forward,” said DeBoer.
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