Firefighters were called out in the early morning hours Saturday to put out a fire at Harmac Pacific mill.
Two scrap wood piles at the mill caught fire and sent sparks hundreds of feet up into the air.
Nanaimo Fire Rescue crews were alerted to the fire on Phoenix Way in the Duke Point area at about midnight.
“We found two fully involved chip piles, Harmac employees on scene, embers flying about 500 feet to the east,” said Capt. Dan Multari. “Our main goal was to start knocking down the fires and control the embers with the wind to the east.”
He said the cause of the fire is undetermined but it appears it started between the two scrap piles. He said Harmac was not doing any burning.
North Cedar Fire Department came to provide assistance and Harmac firefighters were also en route.
Multari said even though crews were able to get the fire under control, “we’ll be here for some time … our main concern is to make sure that there’s no fires spread from the wind and the embers.”
Here are photos from the fire at Harmac mill earlier this morning. Fire is under control. #Nanaimo #fire https://t.co/tCiV34E0OL pic.twitter.com/SnkhiF4Uwv
— Nanaimo Bulletin (@NanaimoBulletin) August 18, 2018
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