Paper Excellence Canada will be investing $13 million in its Port Alberni paper mill to streamline production of food-grade paper. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Fire at Port Alberni’s paper mill quickly extinguished

Thick black smoke could be seen from around the city

  • Sep. 3, 2021 12:00 a.m.

A fire at Paper Excellence’s Port Alberni mill that sent thick black smoke high into the sky on Friday was “a minor fire,” according to the mill’s general manager.

Walter Tarnowsky, in a statement e-mailed to the Alberni Valley News, said “it was a minor fire that was extinguished by mill crews” and that there were no injuries.

RELATED: Paper Excellence invests $13M in upgrades for Port Alberni paper mill

The smoke from the fire was visible from many parts of Port Alberni around 8:30-9 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 3. Tarnowsky did not say which part of the mill had caught fire.

The Port Alberni Fire Department was called as a precaution, and trucks from Beaver Creek, Cherry Creek and Sproat Lake volunteer fire departments also responded under an automatic mutual aid agreement for structure fires.

Tarnowsky said crews were already in the process of restarting the mill by 1:30 p.m.


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Alberni Valley News