A large fire destroyed a south Abbotsford business on Tuesday afternoon.
Reports came in at about 1:30 p.m. of multiple structure fires on the property of Capt’n Crunch Recycling on Vye Road just west of Riverside Road.
Multiple fire engines were called to the scene, and large plumes of dark smoke billowing from the site could be seen across the city.
There were no reports of injuries. No further details, including the cause of the fire, were available at press time.
Capt’n Crunch was started in 1971 by long-time Abbotsford residents Neil Neufeld and Rick Pemble at a location in the area of Lefeuvre and Huntingdon roads.
The business was transferred over to Pemble when it moved to the current location, and he later passed it along to his son Rickie so he could step back and enjoy retirement.
Pemble died in January 2014 after a battle with leukemia (Neufeld also died of leukemia in March of this year), but the business continues to be family-run.
A posting on the Capt’n Crunch website indicates that the business went through some restructuring and rebranding in 2016.
Its services include waste recycling, auto wrecking and metal recycling.
Photos below courtesy Jeanette Martin, Josh Windsor, Makalea Parker, Josh Windsor and Kevin MacDonald.
