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3 · Wednesday, July 28, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Fire results in dramatic loss of product Continued from page 1 Jelinek Cork Group has been in Oakville since 1949 and had been at the Speers Road location for approximately 30 years. The company itself has been in existence for more than 150 years with the Jelinek family coming to Canada in 1948 to escape communism in its native Czechoslovakia. The company prospered in Canada and the United States and has expanded into other countries. Jelinek was visibly shaken as he surveyed the destruction of Jelinek Cork Group's Speers Road site. While fire damage could be seen along the building's roof in a number of places, the rear of the building appears to have suffered the greatest fire damage with the loading dock interior appearing completely burnt out. A large trailer, near the loading dock, and the product inside was also blackened and burnt by fire. "I'm barely holding up, but I'm keeping it together," said Jelinek. "It's probably a total loss of product." While the facility employed 15 people, Jelinek said no one was in the building at the time of the fire. As far as next steps are con- cerned, Jelinek said all he can do is rebuild and get back to work. "We do have stock at another location and we have our showroom, `The Cork House,' which will continue to operate and we also have great suppliers, who will step up and assist," said Jelinek. Oakville Chamber of Commerce President John Sawyer said he has told Jelinek not to worry about his duties with the Chamber of Commerce until he is ready to return. Sawyer said the chamber has succession contingencies. "I've told him, `Let us know what we can do to help,' and I will leave it to him to tell us how we can best help and support him and his team through this situation," said Sawyer. "He's done an amazing job this year. It's been a difficult economic year and his leadership has been just fabulous. So we'll certainly miss that while he is dealing with these other issues." The fire's cause has yet to be determined. While not considered suspicious at this time, the Oakville Fire Department, Halton Police and Ontario Fire Marshal are investigating how the fire started because of the degree of the damage involved. DAVID LEA / OAKVILLE BEAVER GONE: Jelinek Cork Group, located at 2260 Speers Rd., was gutted by fire early Friday morning. MINI Demonstrator Sale 7 demos available ( 4 demos remaining ) $500 off for every 2,000km driven Demos qualify for 0.9% financing! * 2010 Cooper S and 2010 Cooper qualify for the financing program. Test drive a MINI in July and receive a courtesy MINI Mug. MINI Oakville 2454 South Service Road West, Oakville 905-469-6220 minioakville.com