Located east of Toronto in the community of Bowmanville, Abe’s Auto Recycling sits on 18 acres of land. Renovations in recent years have seen improvements made to the physical plant, and a night shift was added in 2011 to help process vehicles more efficiently. 

 

The fire broke out on January 17 at about 8:30 a.m., in one of the buildings used for vehicle disassembly. Emergency vehicles from the communities of Bowmanville, Courtice, Orono and Newcastle attended the scene, and the fire was brought under control within two hours. The injured staff member was taken to Lakeridge Health Bowmanville, where he was treated for minor burns and released. 

 

The building where the fire started was burned to the ground. Abe Afana, owner of Abe’s Auto Recycling, was unavailable for comment as of time of publication, but staff members at the facility have confirmed that plans are underway to rebuild. 

 

Fire Chief Gord Weir confirmed that the cause of the fire was not suspicious. "We’re treating the fire as accidental,” said Weir.