Rockshield Engineered Plywood Plant in Cochrane, ON, Suffers Extensive Fire Damage

The Rockshield Engineered Plywood Plant in Cochrane, Ontario, suffered extensive fire damage on Friday, CTV News reported (8-12-24). The blaze was worsened when a fan powering the ventilation system helped pull flames into other parts of the operation.

Tom Scott, President of the Rockshield Engineered Plywood Plant, told CTV News that the damage was “pretty extensive. (There are) compromised areas that need to be looked at by a structural engineer.”

However, there is a good chance the plant will recover, Scott added. “We had insurance (and) you know insurance will let you recover from a fairly significant problem. This is a fairly significant event (and) if it had burned the entire facility down to the ground, the insurance would not even remotely covered what it would have taken to rebuild it.”

Scott said the company will work with the local government and the province to see if there is funding available to help them rebuild.

“We’re going to figure out what if there’s any funds available there—along with our insurance—and we’re going to work together and see what we can do. But I mean right now I’d say there’s, you know, a better than 50/50 chance that will reopen the mill. But it’s going to take some time.”