'Rubber barons' of PontiacFire crews douse the smouldering remains of an Esprit Whitewater Rafting building near Fort Coulonge, Que. Everyone got out of the almost century-old pine lodge safely but the building where Coffey started Esprit Rafting near Fort Coulonge, Que., 25 years ago was destroyed, he said. - Esprit owner Jim CoffeyStill, he is grateful that the equipment, which is not stored in the main building, was preserved, as well as nearby hostel buildings and camp sites. Esprit Rafting, headquartered in Davidson, Que., about 120 kilometres from Ottawa, does whitewater rafting, canoe and riverboarding trips on several rivers, including the Ottawa River, the Gatineau River, the Magnetawan River, the Petawawa River, the Kipawa River and the Magpie River. And I'm sitting in a canoe out in the middle of the Ottawa River so I paddled as fast as I could and I ran as fast as I could," he recalled Saturday.

Source: CBC News May 21, 2016 14:46 UTC