A fire in a scrap yard between Nanaimo and Ladysmith that sent huge plumes of black smoke billowing into the air and raised the spectre of evacuations in the area was largely contained Thursday.
“It is not anticipated that any adjacent properties or structures are in any danger any longer,” Kris Schumacher, spokesman for the Cowichan Valley Regional District, said Thursday evening.
Schumacher said crews were expected to be at the Schnitzer Steel Industries site battling the fire with a mixture of water and foam “well into the evening and possibly early-morning hours.”
The regional district was overseeing the response, which included volunteer fire departments such as North Oyster, the B.C. Wildfire Service and other agencies.
More than 70 firefighters headed to the scene to battle the fire, which was being fuelled by a variety of material, including a large pile of tires, Schumacher said.
A B.C. Wildfire Service helicopter scooped buckets of water from a nearby lake to help douse the blaze.
Residents of Cedar, Ladysmith and North Oyster were asked not to use local water because groundwater could be contaminated and water was being drawn from local reservoirs to fight the fire, Schumacher said.
“Groundwater contamination is still a significant concern,” he said, adding that it was hoped air quality would improve as the fire diminished through the night.
Black smoke began billowing out of the yard after 9 a.m. and continued through the day as flames climbed into nearby trees. Plumes of smoke were visible for many kilometres around the plant, south of the Nanaimo airport.
Officials had feared they would have to evacuate the area mid-afternoon. “But fortunately the wind died down and began co-operating,” Schumacher said.
The B.C. Wildfire service sent an initial attack crew with three members and a truck to the scene, said fire information officer Dorthe Jakobsen.
Tony Belot, Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. spokesman in Washington state, said in statement the company will launch an investigation into the cause of the fire once it’s deemed safe to do so.
He thanked fire departments for their quick response and said the company is working closely with those departments and other agencies.
“At this time we are thankful to report that there have been no injuries,” Belot said.
North Oyster Fire Chief Florian Schulz told CHEK News that the contents of the scrap yard — a “massive pile” of recyclables, car parts, plastics and foams — made fighting the blaze challenging.
Without fire hydrants in the area, firefighting crews formed a convoy to deliver water, he said. “We have about 15 trucks filling up with water right now, so we are somewhat keeping up, but the fuel load is just massive.”
Firefighting efforts slowed traffic on the highway.
Firefighters sprayed water onto the ColdStar Solutions facility to the south, which holds cold-storage warehouses and refrigerator trucks. ColdStar staff were evacuated.
Officials from the B.C. Ministry of Environment and from the Vancouver Island Health Authority went to the scene.
The groundwater-monitoring department from the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations was alerted.
cjwilson@timescolonist.com