The Sûreté du Québec dismisses the theory of a criminal act to explain the fire that ravaged the former Les Fruits de mer de l’Est processing plant on March 29, in Matane.
After nine months of investigation, however, the police cannot determine, to this day, the origin of the fire.
Following the fire that occurred the day before, around 6:30 p.m., certain information convinced the SQ, on March 30, to transfer the investigation to its major crimes division.
Crime scene technicians were called to the scene.
Around thirty firefighters managed to control the fire fairly quickly before it subsequently regained strength. There were no injuries.
Some 120 residents of Matane-sur-Mer had to be evacuated due to the presence of tanks of liquid ammonia in the factory, a substance used for refrigeration.
The fire occurred two weeks after the final closure of the factory, strategically located in the industrial-port zone of Matane. Local authorities still hoped to find a buyer.
The member for Matane-Matapédia, Pascal Bérubé, had suggested that he had held discussions with a manager of the Danish company that owns the factory, Royal Greenland.
55 local jobs lost
Founded in 1967, Les Fruits de mer de l’Est de Matane announced its closure on March 18, due to the drop in quotas and market prices for shrimp, crab and lobster, combined with the increase production costs and difficulties in recruiting labor.
In total, 55 local employees lost their jobs, in addition to the 150 temporary foreign workers expected for the start of the crab season.
