Business owners back at site after warehouse fire in Canaan

CANAAN — Fire officials are trying to determine the cause of a two-alarm fire on Sunday that destroyed a warehouse serving two companies run by an Enfield family but said it was not considered suspicious.

The husband and wife who run Enfield Publishing and Distribution Co. and ScanSport Inc. were back at the site on Monday in a nearby building that houses their shop and offices and are planning to get the businesses running again.

“We are hopeful,” said Enfield resident Linda Jones, who runs the May Street companies in Canaan with her husband, Alv Elvestad. “We got the heat back on and the power back on today, and we’ve got most computers up and most phones running.”

The fire, which started around 3:20 p.m. on Sunday, destroyed a warehouse full of pallets of books and some kayaks and other equipment for their Pakboats product, folding canoes and kayaks that the couple have sold from the Canaan site since 1996.

Jones said the fire destroyed their warehouse containing books she distributes for publishers and her husband’s boat stock and some parts. But Jones said her son, Mike Jones, who manages the shop, had just returned from an offshore factory that they use, and that new Pakboats inventory will be on hand for the season.

“We have a container on the way with our 2019 stock, so it will be some weeks before that arrives,” she said.

The companies, which have the three family employees and two part-time workers, are insured, Jones said.

Canaan Fire Chief Bill Bellion said the warehouse full of books, framing material and other equipment for the boats was fully ablaze by the time firefighters reached the scene on Sunday afternoon.

“I could see the smoke column from Route 4,” Bellion said. “When we got there, there was so much heavy damage.”

He said determining the cause may be difficult, given the extent of the damage, but it is not considered suspicious. Nobody was injured, but he said a large number of spectators drawn by the heavy smoke column lined up along the narrow road and hindered access for emergency vehicles.

Linda Jones said the warehouse had a propane heater, but there was no immediate indication it was a factor in the fire.

Bellion said the heat from the warehouse fire caused some minor damage to the adjacent shop and offices, but “we were able to keep enough water on it” to limit the impact.

John P. Gregg can be reached at jgregg@vnews.com.