Fire sweeps through Hernder Estate Wines
A west St. Catharines winery celebrated for its wines and a place of numerous celebrations among the newly wed is in ruins after flames swept though the picturesque site late Saturday night.
Fire crews worked into the morning to extinguish the large structure fire at Hernder Estate Wines late Saturday evening.
St. Catharines Fire and Emergency Services said it was called to the blaze on Eighth Avenue Louth at 10:02 p.m.
Fire Chief Dave Upper said the front portion of the facility, which held the Hernder Estate Wines store and banquet hall, had heavy fire involvement" when crews arrived at the scene.
It collapsed shortly afterwards.
While en route, Upper said St. Catharines activated mutual aid - an agreement among emergency responders to lend assistance to one another across jurisdictional boundaries - with crews from Niagara Falls, Thorold, Pelham, Lincoln, West Lincoln and Niagara-on-the-Lake lending assistance.
Out in the rural area, we know we have water supply challenges and we knew with the amount of heavy black smoke and fire we could see in the distance that we had a significant fire," said Upper.
With limited water availability, crews pulled water from the pond out front of the winery and set up tank shuttles."
We had three elevated water towers, just massive water guns ... and they flow 3,800 litres a minute," he said. Just a ridiculous amount of water."
The fire was mainly wind-driven, blowing 50 km/h out of the west, with gusts up to 65 to 70 km/h. Upper credited the unbelievable job" of crews who stopped the fire from spreading beyond the main facility.
They made a truly amazing stop on this building," he said. They were able to cut it off, saving the warehouse and the production facility."
Upper said there was one house on the west side crews had to make sure wasn't involved."
Niagara Regional Police Const. Philip Gavin said St. Catharines uniform officers responded to the fire with emergency personnel.
Officers closed a number of streets in the area, due to the size of the fire and the amount of firefighters on scene.
Gavin said four employees were inside the building when the fire began. All were evacuated safely, with one transported to hospital by Niagara Emergency Medical Services for what is believed to be a minor case of smoke inhalation."
The Ministry of Labour has been notified.
Between mutual aid and St. Catharines fire department, Upper said 21 pieces of equipment were used at the height of the event," with 45 firefighters on scene. Off-duty staff were also activated to man additional vehicles and provide coverage for the rest of the city.
Hamilton Fire Department was on alert, in case of any fires in west Niagara, but Upper said the service wasn't needed.
Firefighters will remain at the scene Sunday, putting out hotspots and pulling apart sections of the collapsed facility.
No firefighters were injured.
The Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal was notified, but would not be attending due to the significant fire damage and collapse," said Upper.
St. Catharines will have its fire prevention investigate, but at this point in time, we don't have a cause and we have no idea of the amount of damage."
Hernder Estate Wines is one of the largest family estate winery operations in Canada, opening its doors to the public in 1993. With 200 hectares of land between St. Catharines and Beamsville, the St. Catharines winery produces more than 25 varieties of VQA wines.
It has become a popular wedding winery" with more than 125 receptions held annually.
Upper said the Hernder family was at the scene through the night.
It's so sad to lose an incredible building like this and our hearts go out to the Hernder family and their staff," he said.
St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik expressed his thanks to Niagara fire departments for their efforts, and his support for the St. Catharines winery, writing on Twitter:
Thoughts are with the Hernder family today as a fire has devastated the iconic winery in St. Catharines overnight."
St. Catharines city Coun. Lori Littleton also shared her thoughts on social media, writing, This is a devastating loss for our community. I was married there along with countless others. My thoughts are with the Hernder family."
The winery was hosting the Mom Market Collective craft show this weekend, originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
On its website the collective released a statement: We are absolutely devastated by the Hernder Estate Wineries (sic) fire. Our hearts and prayers go out to both the Hernder family as well as to many of our vendors who have lost their livelihoods in the tragic occurrence."
A GoFundMe page was set up Sunday to raise money for the 34 vendors.
Police said when the scene is deemed safe, an investigation will begin, and officers will assist the St. Catharines fire department as necessary.
Police are maintaining a presence at the scene, with members of the public asked to stay out of the area to minimize traffic.