Brome Lake Ducks suffers serious damage in major blaze

A major fire destroyed the Knowlton facilities of Pekin duck breeder Brome Lake Ducks in the Montérégie 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. The production facility and offices are a complete loss, which worries employees.

"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," Brome Lake Ducks spokesperson Mylène Grenier said. 

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

In January, a fire ravaged another facility in Racine belonging to the same company and killed 50,000 ducks.