It was a sunny winter Sunday morning when, just after 10am, a large cloud of black smoke could be seen in the sky over the village of St-Albert. This dark cloud over our little community was about to shake up our peaceful daily life. By word of mouth, we soon learned that it was the Fromagerie St-Albert that was in flames. What a tragedy! “According to the Ontario Provincial Police, the fire broke out shortly before 10 a.m… some forty minutes after the cheese factory opened to the public,” writes a Radio-Canada article published on February 3, 2013. Volunteer firefighters from the village and neighboring municipalities quickly rushed to the scene to render assistance and attempt to extinguish the fire, which was already very fierce and destructive. The inhabitants of the village were gathered in front of this sad spectacle, wondering what was going to happen next. Fortunately, no one was hurt. According to an article by Samuel Blais-Gauthier of Le Droit newspaper, also published on February 3, 2013, “Many employees were also on hand to survey the damage, including Dany Boudreau, who is also a volunteer firefighter for the municipality. -I’d been looking for work for a very long time. I’d only been working at the cheese dairy for two weeks. I found out I was losing my job when I got the call. François Dupuis, on the other hand, had been working at the cheese dairy for eight years. -I still don’t know what I’m going to do”.
The village firefighters, along with firefighters from Casselman, Limoges and Embrun, who had come to lend a hand, battled the blaze for several hours until the afternoon. The devastation was significant. It was a total loss. The mayor at the time, François St-Amour, was also on the scene, looking on. Quoted in the same article in Le Droit, he declared in dismay: “It’s terrible, 120 people are out of work this morning. It’s not just a building that’s going up in smoke, but a part of our history”. The media were also present, recording this page in our history. Another community member, Karine Desjardins, told Radio-Canada that day that “she was not only losing her job, but also her family… It was a warm place.
Despite these sad emotions experienced on February 3, 2013, the board of directors representing the co-op’s members were already convinced to rebuild. Réjean Ouimet, former general manager of the cheese factory, was quoted by Radio-Canada on that same tragic day: “The general manager of the cheese factory, Réjean Ouimet, said he was completely devastated by the events, but confident that the cooperative would be able to rise from its ashes.”
The people of St-Albert have always been known for their collective values of social conviviality. When adversity strikes, we rally round and help each other to recover. How did we overcome this challenge? With the fundamental human values of empathy and love for our fellow man. Together, we made significant gestures of resilience that made a difference to our future. This singular event had a profound impact on our community. During this period, the doors of our school were opened to employees of the local cheese factory, who set up temporary offices in the small village school. Members of the school community shared memorable moments interacting daily with the cheese factory team. The school’s teachers, administrators and other stakeholders also took advantage of this unexpected collaboration to look for ways to collaborate and integrate this unique experience to enrich student learning. The spirit of teamwork and mutual support was constant, and the community took advantage of the experience to strengthen its ties. The groundbreaking for the reconstruction project symbolized the start of a process that was completed in less than 17 months, on September 13, 2013. This milestone marked the resilience and determination of our community to overcome hardship and rebuild together.
Just two years after the fire, today marks the official opening of the new Fromagerie St-Albert building. At this celebration on February 3, 2015, Fromagerie president Ginette Quesnel declared: “It is with joy that we turn the page today on this sad episode in our cooperative. With joy and pride”. “We didn’t want to simply build to replace, but to build to innovate,” added Éric Lafontaine, our new General Manager.
Although this page of our history had a happy ending, ten years later we were able to reflect on the effects of the tragedy on our community.Here are excerpts from an article published by Radio-Canada on February 3, 2023.”But the road between the fire of February 3, 2013 and this reopening was strewn with pitfalls.It would have been easy to give up, but Fromagerie St-Albert was determined to rise from the ashes.Our customers didn’t want it to stop, and neither did we,” recalls the cheese dairy’s former general manager, Réjean Ouimet, in an interview on Les matins d’ici.However, the years following the fire were not easy for the cheese factory’s staff.The former general manager has forgotten nothing.We no longer had a cheese factory or a second family.It was sad to see our employees out of work.We had to take care of them, make sure they were unemployed.In the short term, management has reached an agreement with Fromagerie Champêtre, in Quebec, for the production of cheese curds.It has also installed “a small trailer turned into a store” to continue sales.It was important to continue our activities!We called back employees, and they came back,” says Réjean Ouimet.
Ten years after the fire, Fromagerie St-Albert is in a better position than before, according to general manager Éric Lafontaine.While the first few years following the fire were extremely difficult, the establishment’s general manager says that today business is doing well.With ten years’ hindsight, there are things you learn, things you understand.We’re certainly in a better position now, because during the reconstruction, we decided to invest much more than the insurance company reimbursed us,” he explains.The company resumed operations two years later in a new, more modern plant, 30% larger than the old one.
Web article links :
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/598641/incendie-fromagerie-st-albert
https://onfr.tfo.org/la-fromagerie-st-albert-un-exemple-de-resilience-dix-ans-apres-lincendie/
https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2013/02/03/un-incendie-ravage-la-fromagerie-st-albert
https://fromagestalbert.com/deux-ans-plus-tard-la-fromagerie-st-albert-renait-de-ses-cendres/
The enclosed register contains the genealogies of numerous parish families, going back several generations. This work required many hours of research. Despite all the care we have taken, there may still be inaccuracies and omissions. We apologize for any inconvenience.
To contact us: here’s the address of the St-Albert Community Group: gcstalbert@gmail.com
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