Firefighters who battled a fire in hog fuel piles and a dump site at Harmac PacificB次元官网网址檚 pulp mill on the weekend brought the blaze under control, but the site could could continue smouldering for some time.

Multiple fire departments were called upon to tackle the fire that broke out in the millB次元官网网址檚 bark mulch hog fuel piles in Cedar shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday. Along with HarmacB次元官网网址檚 on-site fire department, Nanaimo Fire Rescue deployed 11 fire apparatuses that included fire engines, wildland fire trucks and water tenders to the fire, which spread to an old dump site and threatened a large forested area to the southeast. 

High temperatures and strong winds drove the piles, which produce heat as the material decomposes, to spontaneously combust. The ensuing blaze produced heavy smoke and ash fallout that the winds carried across Cedar, Boat Harbour and Yellow Point. 

Stu Kenning, Nanaimo Fire Rescue assistant chief of operations, said Monday, July 15, that the cityB次元官网网址檚 firefighters were packing up and cleaning equipment deployed over the weekend, but the fire is still burning.

B次元官网网址淭he fire is not extinguished and weB次元官网网址檙e thinking itB次元官网网址檚 not going to be extinguished for quite some time, just because it started in the hog fuel and then blew across the road into the old dump site that was there,B次元官网网址� Kenning said. B次元官网网址淪o, itB次元官网网址檚 basically burning on top of the abandoned dump site and because of the unknown of whatB次元官网网址檚 buried there itB次元官网网址檚 really hard to extinguish.B次元官网网址�

He said the fire will likely keep burning unless thereB次元官网网址檚 a significant change in the weather.

B次元官网网址淗armac [fire department] is on site right now B次元官网网址� ItB次元官网网址檚 contained to their property and contained to the dump site and weB次元官网网址檙e still on site doing safety patrols and wetting down the exterior to make sure of that.B次元官网网址�

Kenning said support from Nanaimo Fire Rescue would continue overnight Monday. 

Measures are being taken to have a sprinkler system set up at the dump site to help keep the site soaked down and help prevent future fire breakouts. Sprinklers already installed at the hog fuel piles helped firefighters bring that portion of the fire under control within six to eight hours. 

B次元官网网址淏ut then it moved over from there and sort of separated across the road to the old abandoned dump. ThatB次元官网网址檚 where the stubborn fire was and it took a long time to move the sprinklers and get water to where we needed it,B次元官网网址� Kenning said. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e pretty well set up to protect the hog fuel piles, but just because of the wind direction and the spark B次元官网网址� ember cast, we call it B次元官网网址� it got into the old abandoned dump site and thatB次元官网网址檚 what took some time.B次元官网网址�

No structures were involved.

B次元官网网址淭he initial fear was that it would blow into North CedarB次元官网网址檚 area, but we did get there quick enough and we were able to contain it to the site B次元官网网址� but that was the initial thought was that, hey, if we donB次元官网网址檛 stop it here itB次元官网网址檚 going to get into the trees and possibly get towards homes,B次元官网网址� Kenning said. 

A helicopter from B.C. Wildfire Service was called in to bucket water onto the fire.

No injuries were reported from the incident, but two ambulances were called in on standby. 

B次元官网网址淲e had a lot of people there and we wanted to make sure we had our resources covered,B次元官网网址� Kenning said. B次元官网网址淭he biggest threat on those fires is heat exhaustion or heat stroke.B次元官网网址�

The assistant chief thanked the other fire departments form Cranberry, North Cedar, East Wellington and Lantzville that were called upon to help battle the fire.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not often that Nanaimo has to reach out to all our partner agencies for support,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭he reason we did that is theyB次元官网网址檙e great at moving water around, so they came in with their trucks that are purposely built to shuttle water and they did a great job and we thank them very much for their support.B次元官网网址�