News & Events

22-1 Maple Avenue
Sussex, New Brunswick Canada E4E 2N5

Fire severely damaged building just two years ago

A late night drive ended up with an unexpected visit to the Dixie Lee Fried Chicken restaurant at Four Corners for two people Aug. 24.

RCMP and the Sussex Fire Department were called to the scene after a car took a speedy shortcut through the Four Corners Irving parking lot, hit a curb, crossed Wheeler Road and entered the restaurant throught the wall to the left of the entrance.

Security guard Trevor Hayes of Jadal Security said first responders were on the scene at about 2:30 a.m.

"The car was in right up to its back wheels. There were still people in the vehicle and one was taken to hospital," he said.

"They went through the kitchen, so the fire department had to secure the gas lines, and the hydro was shut off."

Jadal Security patrols Kingsco Transport and the Dixie Lee building next door, as Kingsco owns both buildings, said Hayes.

The car was towed away shortly before 4 a.m., Police took pictures and measurements in an effort to determine exactly how the accident occured.

Faint skidmarks from one wheel were visible leading up to the wall. The hole was boarded up and a large sign, left over from the restaurant's renovations after a fire in September 2006, proclaimed the Dixie Lee would be "reopening soon."

Inside the restaurant, manager Suzy Voutour waited for insurance representatives amid a mess of scattered stainless steel equipment, hanging wires and insulation and wrecked walls. Broken pop bottles made a dark sticky mess across the floor.

A tourist visitor information centre in the same building was also closed following the accident.

Voutour could not say when the restaurant would be reopening.

KNIGHTVILLE - For the fire chief who helped retrieve the victims of a fire-ravaged farmhouse early Monday, the hours that followed bring to light the devastation emergency workers feel along with the rest of a community.

"Four is a big loss, for any area," Bill Wanamaker said Tuesday. "In a situation like this your training kicks in and you do your job, but it all hits later.

Getting to sleep (Monday) night was not the easiest thing to do, and I know the guys(firefighters) were in the same situation.

"This fire has touched us all in some way. It reminds us that life can change quickly," he added. "You cannot imagine what that family is going through." Four people died in the fire on the Knightville Road in Mount Pisgah, 10 minutes north of Sussex.

Their indentities were released by RCMP Tuesday. The dead include Douglas Harold Dunn, 55, and his parents John Armstrong Dunn, 90, and Dora Ruth Dunn, 88.

Six-year-old John Douglas McFarlane, also known as John Junior or JJ, also died in the home along with his grandfather and great-grandparents. He was a grade 1 student at Sussex Elementary School.

For about 30 years Wanamaker has been a volunteer firefighter in Sussex, and while in years past there have been fatal fires in the region, he has never experienced one that has taken so many lives in the dairytown area.

Wanamaker knew the adults who perished in the fire. The Dunns were long-time residents of the community, Wanamaker confirmed. The impact in the country area where neighbours all know each other and have for generations is significant.

"Being in a rural setting, everyone knows everybody," Wanamaker said. So instead of the neighbours gathering to watch the firefighters and police do their work, they were helping family members that lived nearby cope Monday, the chief said.

The child's mother was on scene for short time and at the request of emergency workers, was taken to elsewhere to be consoled by family members.

Wanamaker said the investigation into the fire is continuing, but, he said it appears it began in the kitchen. The wood furnace is located in the basement.

No smoke detectors were found in the older-style, two-storey home on the rural road.

"A thorough investigation is being done because of the sheer number of fatalities," Wanamaker said.

The Sussex Volunteer Fire Department received a 911 call from a passer-by at 6:46 a.m. and firefighters were on the scene in 15 minutes, but firefighters had to wait on scene a couple hours before entering the building because some hard-to-reach places were still burning.

Millstream and Penobquis volunteer firefighters assisted. Wanamaker said the tragedy should serve as a reminder to homeowners to check their smoke detectors to make sure they are working properly.