On Sunday, August 20, Conuma employees were working on the thermal dryer at Quintette when it caught fire.
The Tumbler Ridge Fire Department attended the call and were able to put the fire out after about five hours, though Conuma workers spent the next few days making sure there were no hot spots to be found.
The fire was noticed at around 1 pm; the cause of the fire has not been released, though CEO Brian Sullivan says that it appears to be related to work that was occurring inside the building at the time.
The Tumbler Ridge Fire Department sent two trucks and a crew of six members to assist with the fire. “Upon arrival we found that there was heavy smoke coming from the dryer building on site,” says Assistant Fire Chief Mike Thibodeau, who was in charge of the department at the time. “When we arrived, we were advised that everyone was out of the building. There were no injuries reported at the time of our arrival. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and I am not sure of estimated damages.”
In order to better access the fire, heavy equipment was used to knock a hole in the side of the building.
They were on site fighting the fire for about five hours. According to Community Affairs Vice President Lisa Risvold, the fire was contained to within process components in the centre of the building. “It did not spread to the outer perimeter of the structure.”
She says initial inspections indicate that no adjacent buildings, structures, vegetation or forest were impacted, either.
Risvold says that Conuma continues to monitor the building for hot spots to ensure re-ignition does not occur.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
