A fire on the waterfront at Paper ExcellenceB次元官网网址檚 Catalyst paper mill caused excitement and consternation in Port Alberni on Friday, July 7.
A Seaspan barge containing hog fuel was being unloaded at the paper mill when a piece of equipment used in the process caught fire. Hog fuel is wood chips or byproduct used to burn as fuel, especially for biomass-fired power plants.
The thick, black smoke that briefly blanketed the waterfront by the paper mill was from the rubber conveyor belt on the unloaderB次元官网网址檚 conveyor that caught on fire, Port Alberni deputy fire Chief Wes Patterson said. B次元官网网址淪o it wasnB次元官网网址檛 the actual hog fuel pile on the barge, it was a piece of equipment on there.B次元官网网址�
There were also two excavators on the barge that were undamaged, he added. The fire was called in shortly before 3 p.m., and while crews responded the wind picked up in Alberni Inlet and blew embers from the fire around the site.
B次元官网网址淲e started having spot fires on the ground,B次元官网网址� Patterson said. Some embers landed underneath the sawfiling room and started smouldering. The metal-clad building has wooden floors and is built on pilings, with a space underneath: B次元官网网址渓ots of areas for fire to travel. It took quite a while to put out.B次元官网网址�
Crews from Cherry Creek, Beaver Creek and Sproat Lake volunteer fire departments responded, as did BC Ambulance ServiceB次元官网网址�29 firefighters in total, as well as Catalyst personnel trained in firefighting. There were no injuries, Patterson said.
San Group arranged to have two Timberrose Tug and Barge tugboats on standby with their water equipment in case the barge needed to be pulled away from the dock, San Terminals manager Joe Spears said. B次元官网网址淚 first learned of the fire when I went to my window and it turned dark. I was in my office in San at 4000 Stamp,B次元官网网址� which is close to where the barge was moored behind Paper Excellence. San GroupB次元官网网址檚 remanufacturing plant is located beside the paper mill.
B次元官网网址淥ur part was very smallB次元官网网址eB次元官网网址檙e neighbours helping neighbours,B次元官网网址� Spears said.
The Harbour Chieftain fireboat, owned in partnership between the Port Alberni Port Authority and Port Alberni Fire Dept., was not used to fight this fire. B次元官网网址淚f there was a role for the Chieftain to play we would have brought it over,B次元官网网址� Patterson said.
B次元官网网址淭he benefit for us is (the barge) was tied up at the unloading facility; we didnB次元官网网址檛 have to go on the barge. We needed a fair amount of water and more water than what the Chieftain can provide.B次元官网网址�
While crews were dealing with the barge fire, a call came in about a bush fire on Wallace Street. City of Port Alberni staff and RCMP members managed to get the nine-metre-square fire under control by the time a fire crew arrived to extinguish it.
Meantime, crews back at the barge fire were expected to clear out shortly after 7 p.m. Mill crews will remain on fire watch at the site overnight in case of flareups, Patterson said.
susie.quinn@albernivalleynews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
