A fire at the Ainsworth OSB plant Sept. 6 had 36 firefighters from four fire departments working exhaustively to battle the blaze in several locations along the mill’s “fibre flake lines.”
100 Mile House Fire-Rescue chief Darrell Blades says the fire broke out in the rotary screens, and while staff took appropriate action to dump the burning flake into the outdoor fire bunker, that didn’t succeed in stopping the fire progression along the line.
Blades explains his crews were called out at 7:55 a.m. to the mill on Exeter Road and responded with 14 members, plus mutual aid from Forest Grove (seven members), Lone Butte (eight members), and 108 Mile Ranch (seven members) volunteer fire departments, along with a lot equipment.
Crews fought the fire as it progressed from the rotary screens into the cyclones and smokestacks, he says, adding they doused flames and embers in the dry bins and the sawdust bag house.
They were working “all over the place,” but Blades notes the firefighters concentrated on the rotary screens, cyclones and bag house, and then finished up at the dry bins while Ainsworth staff assisted in other areas.
“It was lots of work. Some of the guys are pretty beat from going up and down those stairs. It’s 110 feet to the roof and a few guys made that trip a few times up and down. That’s 11 storeys [each time].”
The firefighters remained on scene until about 2 p.m. when the fire was out and all the hot spots were dealt with and double-checked, he says, and left staff to complete the site clean-up.
The fire chief adds the staff was left with some equipment repairs to be done before operations could resume.
However, Ainsworth’s BC Timberlands forestry manager, Mike Kennedy, confirms the local OSB plant is now back up and running.
Early morning callout
Blades adds it was a long day for some of his crew, himself included, as an callout at 1:16 a.m. the same day had them attending the fire on a 53-foot cargo trailer, carrying Coca-Cola products, that caught fire on 99 Mile Hill on Highway 97.
“The rear wheels were on fire and then just the back passenger side of the actual trailer itself were on fire, likely from brakes and wheels overheating.”
Crews extinguished that vehicle fire and were back and cleaned up by 3 a.m., before being called out again a few hours later to battle the blaze at the local mill.
