By Gaven Crites
It's been a busy week for firefighting crews in the area as multiple fire halls responded to two callouts at the Ainsworth Engineered OSB plant in 100 Mile House, the latest Monday (Aug. 12) afternoon.
Over a dozen firefighters from 100 Mile House Fire-Rescue and 108 Mile Ranch Volunteer Fire Department were on scene for close to two-and-a-half hours helping to extinguish the blaze, which was located in a dryer bin.
“We were quite surprised to get a fire there yesterday,” says Darrell Blades, 100 Mile House Fire-Rescue fire chief. “We don't usually get fires back-to-back there.”
Blades adds the fire was “isolated.”
No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
“We're looking at the possibility of an electric drive motor shorting out and causing the fire, but we're not there yet.”
At 8:20 a.m. on Aug. 11, close to a dozen firefighters from 100 Mile House Fire-Rescue responded to a callout at the OSB plant.
Blades says that blaze was “one of the bigger ones” they've seen at the OSB plant in recent years.
“It was a pretty significant fire. We were on scene for about five hours and we dealt with different areas where we have to go in and get rid of embers and sparks and smouldering sites, so when they fire back up again another fire doesn't start.”
Twenty-seven firefighters were on scene, including members of the Lone Butte Fire Department, 108 Mile Ranch Volunteer Fire Department and Forest Grove Volunteer Fire Department.
No one was injured and the plant was operational on Monday (Aug. 12).
The suppression system at the OSB plant works really well, Blades says, adding it contained the fire to different areas.
“We basically go in and put out the stuff that the deluge system doesn't. So far [a fire] hasn't grown to where it's overtaken their system.”
On Monday, 100 Mile House Fire-Rescue was still working with mill staff to determine the cause of the fire, which moved through multiple portions of the drying area of the plant.
“It appears there was a plug in one of the overhead pipe ... that lit up and the fire went through the area.”