A working structure fire at Bourdeau Brothers brought a large mutual aid response to the north side of the Village. At 1638 hours Canton Fire and Rescue, along with County Car 4, were dispatched to a reported structure fire at Bourdeau Brothers. The company services area farms with agricultural chemicals and bulk fertilizer products. The caller to 911 reported a fire in their shop area that was growing. Chief Brian McCluskey responded immediately and requested mutual aid from Potsdam Fire, Morley Fire, Pyrites Fire, and Rennselaer Falls Fire. Engine 6 responded within 5 minutes and, upon arrival, laid a 5 inch supply line from a hydrant across USH 11. Tower 1 arrived shortly thereafter and set up in the area just to the south of the fire building. As the scope of the incident quickly grew, Chief McCluskey assigned Assistant Chief Russ Lawrence to act as Operations Chief and Past Chief Bob Crowe as Water Supply officer. Crews stretched handlines off Engine 6 into the building. After determining that the water supply in the dead end main feeding Engine 6 would not support another engine, Past Chief Crowe requested a first alarm of the Tanker task force to respond to the Canton side of the incident. This would bring tankers from Morley Fire, Pyrites Fire, Rennselaer Falls Fire, and DeKalb Junction Fire. The fill site for this operation was set up in the Price Chopper parking lot, which is on a different water main than the hydrant Engine 6 was utilizing. Potsdam Tower 5 and Engine 48 arrived and set up in front of the complex to provide protection to the remaining buildings and prevent the potential fire spread. In order to supply that operation, additional tankers were requested from West Potsdam Fire, West Stockholm Fire, Hannawa Falls Fire, Potsdam Fire, and Pierrepont Fire. A hydrant at the new Medical Center Campus on USH 11 was utilized as a fill site.

Firefighters utilized both hand lines and master streams in the fire attack. Tower 5 operated their master stream to prevent fire spread from the building of origin. The crew from Tower 1 worked on roof ventilation until the roof became structurally unsound. Once the fire was knocked down, overhaul operations commenced.

Recognizing the potential for hazardous materials involvement, Chief McCluskey requested the St. Lawrence County Hazardous Materials team respond to the scene, along with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. In an effort to contain runoff from the incident in case of possible contamination, sand was brought in and deployed by the Town of Canton Highway Department. As a precautionary measure, a decontamination line was set up and all firefighters who had operated in or on the fire building were decontaminated.

Canton Fire and Rescue is extremely grateful for the assistance provided by all the responding agencies. All units were back in service at 2220 hours. There were no injuries at this incident.